Only 12% of Catalan firms comply with equality laws, says report

Only 12% of Catalan companies comply with the equality laws, says a report from the women's business watchdog of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce.

The report from the Observatori Dona Empresa i Economia (ODEE) was presented on Monday during an event to commemorate the watchdog's 10 years of history.

Only 416 of the 3,383 Catalan companies subject to the 2007 law comply with the stipulation that 40% of the board must be made up of women.

The study also says that the percentage of female executives in companies is declining and that women make up only 31% of management positions in firms.

"A clear glass ceiling," says ODEE

According to the ODEE, there is "a clear glass ceiling that makes it difficult for women to access executive positions of responsibility."

Similarly, there are women on the boards of only 22.6% of firms on the Spanish Ibex-35 stock market, with only 90 women heading Ibex-35 companies.

While the study ackowledges that the wage gap has been reduced in recent years, it concludes that women earn 23.4% less than men every year.