As the European Commissioner for Justice Viviane Reding proposes a new law in Strasbourg that would force all major European companies to have at least 40 per cent of their boards made up of women, a former BBC head of human resources claims he was forced out of his job after he tried to blow the whistle on sexual discrimination and harassment of women.
HR boss Byron Myers said he was put under “intolerable” pressure to withdraw his allegation that one of his bosses had an agenda aimed at getting rid of women in senior roles who worked part-time but has now asked MPs who are questioning the BBC’s Director General today to probe whether the corporation’s whistle-blowing procedures are “fit for purpose”.
The Commission is divided on the issue of quotas for women on boards, with most other female Commissioners preferring self-regulation, and several countries in the EU are opposed to the idea, including the UK.
The proposal was put forward after the European Parliament criticised the lack of female candidates for the European Central Bank’s executive board, and in a resolution passed by 21 to 12, with 13 abstentions, the European Council was asked to withdraw the candidacy of Luxembourg’s Yves Mersch, as his appointment would have meant an all-male board until 2018.
At the moment less than 15 per cent of board positions in EU member states are filled by women, although France, Spain, Italy, Iceland and Belgium have all introduced quota laws.
However, the 30% Club, which is committed to bringing more women onto UK corporate boards says that there has been a “huge leap up” in the number of women of boards over the last two years and that there is evidence that introducing quotas does not necessarily have as effect on the number of women in chief executives roles.