From 2016, at least 30% of seats on the boards of German companies listed on the stock exchange will have to be occupied by women. In addition, by 2015 large companies will have to disclose their plans to increase the presence of women on boards of directors and in top management positions.
The announcement comes during the negotiations between the SPD and the CDU and was relaunched by Deutsche Welle. The Social Democrats recently proposed to gradually increase the proportion of female managers to 40% by 2012. The Christian Democrats were initially against female quotas, adding that the move was unconstitutional, but in the end Annette Widmann-Mauz, the CDU negotiator, he spoke of "cultural change in companies", hoping for a "reasonable agreement with the SPD".
Currently the presence of women in the button rooms of companies is a minority. As of September 2013, only 11,7% of board members are women.
The two parties have also reached an agreement for a plan that allows parents to work part-time and obtain up to 28 months of leave after the birth of their child. If both parents look after the baby and have part-time jobs, they can get a 10% bonus. The goal of the program is to facilitate reintegration into work.
