Legal Framework Conditions

In the German Federal administration and in the in Federal Courts, the new Equal Treatment Act has created a changed framework for bringing to life previous gender equality endeavors. Under Section 2 of the Federal Equal Treatment Act, all employees with management tasks are obligated to promote the equal treatment of women and of men. Section 11 provides that not only personnel management but also each person with supervisory duties is obligated to implement the equal treatment plan. This is intended to ensure that every member of management is oriented to staff development oriented to gender equality and that gender aspects become an element of day-to-day management.

The fact that this merely readjusts the legal framework and that stronger implementation of gender equality in practice does not result from it is shown by current studies on promotion of women in industry in Germany. A real change in existing structures seems only to be possible if the division of labor between the sexes that is anchored in economic, technical and authority and administrative factors is broken down. The Federal Equal Treatment Act creates better conditions for this in the Federal administrative structure than the voluntary agreement [German link] of the Federal Government with the key associations in private industry.