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Germany's boardrooms are to become more family-friendly. In the future, female board members are to be able to exercise their board mandate even after taking maternity leave. Men will be allowed to take parental leave. Women and men will also be able to take time off to care for relatives or in the event of illness. That's according to a proposed amendment to a draft law obtained by Business Insider. This is currently in the departmental vote.
The paper states, "If a member of a management board consisting of several persons is temporarily unable to fulfill his or her duties associated with the appointment due to maternity leave, parental leave, the care of a family member, or illness, the supervisory board may revoke the appointment." Thereafter, the Supervisory Board must promise a renewed appointment within one year. This means that if an Executive Board member is recalled, he or she has the guaranteed right to return to the old post.
Crucially, the paper states that the board member is completely exempt from all duties and liability risks. Previously, board members who let their board mandate rest - for example, because of the birth of a child - would have been liable. It goes on to say: Furthermore, the board member "has the security of being reappointed because this revocation of appointment is simultaneously linked to the assurance of subsequent reappointment." Compensation for this period is also possible, provided this is contractually stipulated. As soon as an Executive Board member suspends his mandate, this must be announced in the Commercial Register.
During the period of dismissal, the company is exempt from the quota for women on the Executive Board
However, there is explicitly no legal entitlement to a temporary resignation of the mandate. This would be "incompatible with the function of an independent and entrepreneurial member of the Executive Board," it says. In addition, the company's Supervisory Board can also refuse to suspend the Executive Board mandate. In this case, however, reasons must be given in writing.
Another interesting point is that for the duration of the member's dismissal, the company is exempt from the obligation to fulfill a quota for women on the management board.
The change in the law was prompted by the Delia Lachance case. Lachance was a board member of the listed e-commerce company Westwing. At the beginning of March 2020, she had started her maternity leave and a six-month parental leave. Lachance had to resign from her position as a board member because of this. Several prominent female entrepreneurs, managers, and politicians had then pushed for a change in the law.
According to information from Business Insider, the plan is scheduled to be discussed in the Bundestag's Committee for Legal Affairs and Consumer Protection on March 1.
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/2ZpDNAE
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