Gender equality plans (EEPs) are a crucial tool for truly implementing equality in working life in municipalities or public authorities - and the city of Bonn has been doing this for many years. Stephanie Clemens-Krämer, Equal Opportunities Officer for the City of Bonn, has now worked with the Personnel and Organization Office over the past few weeks to create a 36-page GLP entitled "Better equal, Bonn!". The Council has now adopted it in its last meeting before the summer vacation. In addition to figures and data, it sets out the goals and measures that the Bonn city administration has set itself for the next five years in terms of equality.
In terms of form and informative value, the plan is very different from the City of Bonn's previous plans for the advancement of women and the last gender equality plan from 2019 to 2022. The reasons for this are the introduction of a new personnel management system from 2022, which for the first time will show more detailed data by discipline. In addition, a model equality plan from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia has been in place since 2021, which served as the basis for specifically presenting underrepresentation in the new GLP.
For the first time, the distribution between women and men in the fields of general administration, health, technical services, fire departments, non-technical services and social and educational services was determined in the new GLP. A development in the individual disciplines towards gender parity can therefore only be presented and evaluated at the review in two years' time.
"There is one thing we can say: We have achieved a lot in terms of gender equality in recent years, but this is not yet a matter of course. Our path is right and good, but there is still room for improvement," says Mayor Katja Dörner, who expects her administration to ensure that equality is practiced by everyone.
Working independently of gender roles
The city of Bonn has 61 percent female employees. As in other areas of work, however, men are more likely to be found in technical and scientific fields. In the educational and social fields, it is more likely to be women. In order to change this, the City of Bonn is now using specific wording in job advertisements to encourage people to pursue careers regardless of gender roles. And this starts at the training stage, where the GLP now presented lists many new measures. Gender equality skills are also included in all management training courses.
Promoting equality in working life is one of the central objectives of the new GLP - as is reducing the under-representation of women. A clear quota regulation, which stipulates an increase in the proportion of women up to 50 percent in certain salary and remuneration groups, is intended to ensure that there is a balanced gender distribution in all areas of the city administration. Equal Opportunities Officer Stephanie Clemens-Krämer sums it up as follows: "Mixed teams work better and more successfully, as all studies show!"
Family and career: part-time is female, parental leave too
Another important area is the promotion of work-life balance: 28% of all employees work part-time, 85% of whom are women.
At 15 percent, the proportion of men working part-time is still significantly lower. This figure has not risen significantly in recent years. One of the aims of the new GLP is therefore to reduce the proportion of women working part-time in order to guarantee them a secure livelihood and a pension, while at the same time increasing the proportion of men. Equality can only succeed if gainful employment and care work are considered together.
The proportion of women taking parental leave is 92 percent. The majority of men (80 percent) take two months' leave. For twelve months or more, their share is only less than one percent. Fear of career disadvantages and financial disadvantages for the family are often seen as obstacles to taking more time off. The city of Bonn is a certified family-friendly company via the "berufundfamilie" audit. Among other things, there is a module that deals with paternity leave. Since 2021, the Equal Opportunities Office has had an internal "Men/Fathers" contact point, which provides special information and offers on advice centers, including on the intranet, and offers internal events.
Mobile and flexible working - promoting part-time management
An important step towards compatibility is also the new service agreement on mobile and flexible working at the City of Bonn. The flexitime framework has been extended from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. in large parts of the administration so that family work can be better planned. There are a wide variety of part-time models, which are also increasingly being accepted by managers. The topic of "part-time management" was covered for the first time in a Bonn GLP and shows that 15 percent of managers are already working part-time, although the majority of these are women. This figure is not surprising, as women are more likely to work part-time in order to take care of their families and other private responsibilities. A "part-time management" concept is planned for the near future.
In the GLP, it is important for the City of Bonn to emphasize that the pandemic-related expansion has shown what is possible with mobile working, where there is a need for improvement and where the limits lie. Mobile working should not be seen as an alternative care option for children or for nursing care and ultimately lead to additional burdens.
Overall, the figures are encouraging in terms of the gender distribution of managers: women make up 66% of the top echelons of the administrative board. This figure is 46 percent for heads of department and 47 percent for management positions overall. But the City of Bonn is not resting on its laurels: since 2021, the Equal Opportunities Officer has been offering an internal mentoring programme for women with leadership potential together with the Human Resources and Organization Office, which will also give rise to networks of female managers.
The GLP for 2023 to 2027 can be viewed in detail here (opens in a new tab).