The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, has criticized an “absurd” €90,000 fine for hiring too many women in senior positions at city hall in breach of a 2013 law that sought to achieve greater gender equality in the workplace.
After promoting 11 women and five men in 2018, Hidalgo was found to have violated a 2013 rule that meant no more than 60 percent of newly appointed management positions in the public sector could go to one gender. The move was designed to ensure more women get promoted, but Hidalgo fell afoul of it by giving 69 percent of the roles in her administration to women.
The mayor was unfazed by the punishment, declaring that she was happy to announce the penalty was because “The management of the city hall has, all of a sudden, become far too feminist,” and declaring that “this fine is obviously absurd, unfair, irresponsible and dangerous.”
Hidalgo then posted on Twitter to mockingly declare that she will personally hand deliver the check to the Ministry of Civil Service, which issued the fine. She also said she believes there is still a delay in the general promotion of women in France and that actions like hers are required to speed up the progression to a more equal workforce.
French Public Service Minister Amélie de Montchalin responded to the issue on Twitter, inviting Hidalgo to meet with her to discuss how to promote women in public service without actually breaching the existing rules.
Earlier this year, the country’s professional equality index showed that women in France are paid 25 percent less than men, when all positions are taken into consideration. Early this year, Minister of Labour Muriel Penicaud warned that more than 17 percent of companies that have over 250 employees were on red alert and at risk of financial penalty for violating equal pay rules.
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