The agency will undertake the certification process in order to implement best practices on the reconciliation of work, private and family life.

On Thursday, the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency, InvestChile, signed a letter of undertaking with the Ministry for Women and Gender Equity under which it will begin certification under Chilean Norm (NCH) 3262. The aim is to obtain the Sello Iguala seal of equality, which seeks to promote gender equity in organizations through concrete measures to narrow gaps between women and men.  

The letter was signed virtually by Juan Araya, the acting director of InvestChile, and Rosa Riveres, head of its Gender System.

Chilean Norm 3262 is a management system that seeks to eradicate gender gaps in companies. When starting the certification process, they undertake to carry out a diagnosis and take concrete steps to overcome the gaps detected.

InvestChile has already made progress in this field in that it is committed to gender parity. Women account for 54% of its team and more than half of them (53%) are coordinators or area leaders.

The wage gap, meanwhile, remains a challenge. Men receive an hourly wage that is 8.6% higher than for women. This gap is smaller than that which exists at the national level (16.4%) and, particularly, in organizations of the same size (23.6%). However, it is larger than the gender wage gap found in organizations in the same economic sector (1.5%).

A breakdown by hierarchical level shows that the gender wage gap is largest in Senior Positions (13.3%), followed by Workers (11.3%). By contrast, in Middle Management, men receive an hourly wage that is 3.6% lower than women.

“The health crisis is a good time to foster gender equity in organizations, especially due to the importance of promoting co-responsibility and women’s labor force participation. The government and the ministry are firmly committed to the implementation of good labor practices that foster and strengthen women’s inclusion, development of leadership and permanence in all spaces,” stressed the Undersecretary for Women and Gender Equity, Carolina Cuevas.

“We value InvestChile’s decision to undertake NCH 3262 certification and to incorporate this management system, which will permit better policies on gender equity and the reconciliation of work, family and private life,” she added.

Araya emphasized that “for the agency, gender issues are a central aspect of its work, not only as an important pillar of our work environment, but also in carrying out our tasks. Implementing the norm will allow us to certify our commitment and visibilize our conviction about the important role that women and men – and protection of their personal and family spheres – have in our agency and in society in general.”

Organizations that are certified under NCH 3262 are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda and are positioned as modern companies that strive to reduce the gaps experienced by their employees so as to improve quality and succeed in competing for new markets not only overseas, but also domestically.