ISIPO Equality Plan 2021-2024

This equality plan applies to ISIPO staff, except the employees of the accreditation department, and is intended to make the office a good, attractive workplace where the focus is on equality and the well-being of staff. The plan is intended to guide staff and promote mutual understanding of equality issues between the employees and the employer. This equality plan fulfills the ISIPO’s obligation as laid down in the Act on Equal Status and Equal Rights Irrespective of Gender No. 150/2020 (referred to as the Gender Equality Act) and other equality laws and regulations. In dealing with equality issues and resolving them, the ISIPO is constantly guided by its values of professionalism, knowledge, and trust.

Objectives
The ISIPO ensures that employees of all genders have equal rights to pay and jobs. ISIPO staff enjoy the same opportunities, rights, and conditions of employment irrespective of their ethnicity, nationality, religion, skin color, finances, ancestry, or other factors. The objectives of the ISIPO are as follows:

Staff will enjoy the same pay and employment terms for work of equal value, irrespective of gender.
Vacant positions will be available to everyone, irrespective of gender.
Care is taken to ensure that vocational training and continuing education is available to all staff, irrespective of gender.
Care is taken to ensure that staff can find the right balance between work and family life.
Employees will be supported when they return to work following parental leave or leave of absence due to urgent and unavoidable family circumstances.
Bullying, gender-based violence, gender-based harassment, and sexual harassment are not tolerated in the workplace.

I. Equal pay

When making decisions on pay, care should be taken to ensure that there are no unexplained differences in the pay of staff. Women, men and people registered as non-binary in the civil registry will receive equal pay and staff will enjoy the same terms of employment for work of equal value, see Article 6 of the Gender Equality Act. Under the terms of the Gender Equality Act, ISIPO staff are always entitled to reveal information about their pay if they choose to do so and their manager and other people involved in making decisions about pay may not ask an employee to keep the details of their pay confidential.

Objective: Staff will enjoy the same pay and employment terms for work of equal value, irrespective of gender

Operation	Time frame	Performance measure	Responsibility
Achieve the goals of the Equal Pay Plan and maintain an equal pay certification in accordance with the equal pay standard ÍST 85:2012.	Always	There must be no unexplained gender pay gaps and the total deviations must not exceed 4%.	The Director General
A statistical analysis of pay is carried out to identify any gender-specific differences in pay and other employment terms. The conclusions are presented to the staff.	In the first quarter	The correlation between the job classification and the pay (R2) must not be lower than 90%.	Head of the Operational Division
If a review reveals gender-based differences in pay or other terms of employment, the party responsible will suggest measures to remedy the situation	Within two months of the review	There must be no unexplained gender pay gaps and total deviations must not exceed 4%.	The Director General
Employees who believe that they are suffering from pay discrimination on the basis of their gender must submit an explanation to their manager.	Within two months of receiving the explanation		The Director General
A consultation meeting on the equal pay system will be held each year.	In February of each year		The Director General and the head of the Operational Division

II. Vacant positions and promotion

Vacant positions will be advertised and equality issues will be given the same consideration as other important factors when appointing new staff. Vacant positions must be made equally available to women, men and people registered as non-binary in the civil registry, see Article 12 of the Gender Equality Act. People will be encouraged to apply for advertised positions regardless of their gender. When two or more equally competent candidates apply for an advertised position, the person of the gender which is in a minority in the relevant type of job at the ISIPO will be given priority.

Objective: Vacant positions will be available to all, irrespective of gender

Operation	Time frame	Performance measure	Responsibility
All vacant positions are advertised without specifying a gender. Everyone should be encouraged to apply for advertised positions regardless of their gender.	Always	Assessment of applications with regard to competence.	Head of the Operational Division
Part of the annual management review is an overview of the gender breakdown of the workforce. The conclusions are then presented to the staff.	In February of each year		Head of the Operational Division
In the event of a gender imbalance, special attention must be paid to equality considerations when hiring new employees or transferring staff, if the people concerned are equally competent, in order to improve the status of the disadvantaged gender. The same applies to working groups or teams that staff are appointed to.	Always	Gender ratios in the workplace and working groups at any given time.	The Director General and heads of divisions
The attitudes and progress of the staff will be assessed in an annual survey. If the results show that employees believe that there is a gender imbalance or if the genders have different views on the situation, further analysis must be carried out and measures must be taken, if necessary.	In the first quarter of each year	Proportional correction if any group of employees is at a disadvantage.	Head of the Operational Division

III. Vocational training, retraining and continuing education

All ISIPO staff members have equal opportunities to take part in vocational training, retraining and continuing education and to attend courses held to improve vocational skills or to prepare for other occupations, see Article 12 of the Gender Equality Act. Decisions on educational leave must be justified and made on an equal basis.

Objective: Care is taken to ensure that vocational training and continuing education are available to all staff, irrespective of gender.

Operation

Time frame

Performance measure

Responsibility

The annual attitude survey will be used to determine whether employees have been encouraged and given opportunities to take part in continuous learning and retraining measures. If the results show that employees believe that there is a gender imbalance or if the genders have different views on the situation, further analysis must be carried out and measures must be taken.

In the first quarter of each year

Proportional correction if any group of employees is at a disadvantage.

Head of the Operational Division

If there is found to be an unexplained gender-based difference in employees’ efforts to take part in education and vocational training, management must discuss ways to correct this imbalance with the staff.

Within two months of the analysis and results

Management

IV. Reconciling family responsibilities and professional obligations

Staff will be able to reconcile their professional obligations and family responsibilities irrespective of gender, see Article 13 of the Gender Equality Act, e.g. with the help of flexible working hours, part-time working and other work arrangements, wherever possible and necessary. Every effort is made to accommodate the individual situations of employees, on the basis of the assumption that staff should be able to attend to family matters, irrespective of their gender. The same applies to absence because of the illness of children. Parental leave and other circumstances related to pregnancy and childbirth must not have an adverse effect on career development, e.g. decisions on continuous education, termination of employment or working conditions. Every effort is made to accommodate staff requests for temporary part-time working following a return from work from parental or sick leave or as a way of reducing working hours in preparation for retirement.

Objective: Care is taken to ensure that staff can reconcile their working hours and their family life as far as possible. Employees will be supported when they return to work following parental leave or leave of absence due to urgent and unavoidable family circumstances.

Operation	Time frame	Performance measure	Responsibility
Employees are introduced to the ISIPO’s attendance policy and the resources available to ensure a good balance between family life and professional obligations, such as children’s sick days, flexible working hours and other individual solutions.	In the first quarter of each year	An attitude survey on the experience of staff in reconciling family life and professional obligations. If the results indicate a difference in attitudes or experiences between genders, further analysis will be carried out and measures must be taken.	The Director General
Employees, in particular expectant parents, are introduced to their rights and obligations in the workplace.	In the first quarter of each year	An attitude survey on the experience of staff.	Heads of divisions

V. Gender-based violence, sexual harassment and bullying

All employees have the right to be treated with respect and be free from gender-based or sexual harassment or violence. In order to achieve this, a policy that describes how to handle such cases has been introduced and presented to the staff on the basis of the Act on Equal Status and Equal Rights Irrespective of Gender No. 150/2020, the Act on Working Environment, Health and Safety in Workplaces No. 46/1980 and Regulation 1009/2015 on measures to combat bullying, sexual harassment, gender-based harassment and violence in workplaces.

Objective: Bullying, gender-based violence, gender-based harassment and sexual harassment are not tolerated in the workplace.

Operation	Time frame	Performance measure	Responsibility
Training for employees on bullying, gender-based violence, gender-based and sexual harassment and the handling of such cases. This training will also be part of the ISIPO’s onboarding process for new employees.	In the first quarter of each year	An attitude survey on the experience of staff.	Management
The ISIPO’s policy and action plan on bullying, gender-based violence and gender-based and sexual harassment will be reviewed and introduced to the staff.	Annually	In the first quarter of each year.	Management
Any cases of bullying, gender-based violence or gender-based or sexual harassment in the workplace will be dealt with immediately.	Always	According to the policy and action plan.	The Director General

Disputes
Disputes that may arise in relation to equality matters can be referred to the Director General or the Head of the Operational Division.

Follow-up and review
The policy will undergo continuous improvements and follow-up, and measures will be taken, if necessary. The policy is reviewed at least once a year, in conjunction with the review of the equal pay system for the equal pay certification carried out in January and February of each year. The review will be completed two months before the term of the previous plan expires. It is important that objectives and action plans are consistent with daily activities at the ISIPO. The ISIPO’s Equality Plan is valid for a term of three years from the date of its approval.