Balanced gender representation on company
boards
From 1 January 2004,
the boards in all state owned companies are obliged to have a minimum of 40
percent representation of each gender. The Parliament has passed corresponding
amendments regarding public limited companies in the private sector. For these
companies, the regulations will be effective from 1 January 2006.
This
legislation will secure greater gender equality and democracy and will
strengthen management in the business sector and boost the companies’
competitive ability.
No gender
representation rules have been proposed for private limited liability
companies. Most private limited liability companies in Norway are small
family companies where the owners are physical person who personally attends
the board. The legislation on gender representation does not fit very well for
this kind of companies. In public limited companies, on the other hand, the
shares are generally more widely spread, and the company’s management has a
less personal feature.
Relevant
links:
