The Draft WLB Directive : a new approach to gender equality in employment?

Bibliogr. s. 336-339

The European Union experiences many challenges today. One of these is the necessity of achieving the target of employment the 75% of the population aged 20-64. There is no doubt that it is a kind of 'mission impossible' without women's inclusion. Simultaneously, EU has realized that gender employment gap in the labour market is most acute for parents and people with other caring responsibilities. An attempt of the solution has become the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on work-life balance for parents and carers and repealing Council directive 2010/18/EU, that is part of a package of measures that addresses women's under-representation in employment and supports their career progression through improved conditions to reconcile their working and private duties. The aim of the paper is to take a closer look for a proposal and assessment of its potential influence on the Polish employment policy. It encompasses of the four main parts: introduction, presentation of the EU gender equality law in the field of employment from WLB perspective, analysis of the main assumptions of the proposal (maternity leave, parental leave, carer's leave, flexible working arrangements), and finally - its implications for Poland. The paper ends with the conclusion that gender equality in the employment is not only the issue that is worth implementing, but also something that simply pays off.