Dimension: 5.2.1 Workforce diversity
If parliament is to be a truly inclusive institution and to perform its representative and accountability roles effectively, it needs to ensure that its workforce reflects the diversity of the community.
To this end, the legal framework should require non-discrimination in recruitment, employment and advancement for all groups in society. It should also be clearly established that parliament is an equal-opportunity employer, based on the principle that every person has equal employment opportunities, regardless of attributes such as race, sex, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression.
Having a gender-balanced parliamentary administration helps to bring varied perspectives into the work of parliament and is an important part of parliament’s workplace diversity and gender mainstreaming approach. Institutional strategic plans or gender equality policies should provide for gender balance in the workforce, including an equitable distribution of work across the parliamentary administration’s departments and seniority levels. Different duties should not be assigned based on gender stereotypes.
Gender-sensitive Gender-sensitive An approach that acknowledges the way in which gender informs activities and decisions by taking account of, and responding to, the unique views, perspectives and needs of men, women and gender non-conforming individuals. and non-discriminatory human resources policies should be in place and be applied to staff recruitment and career development. Parliament Parliament A national body of elected (or sometimes appointed) representatives that makes laws, debates issues and holds the government to account. should ensure that there is no gender pay gap and should take care to ensure gender-sensitive language is used in its institutional practices.
Beyond the legal framework, it is also important for parliament to provide real opportunities for underrepresented groups to be included in the parliamentary workforce. These approaches can include targeted recruitment, specialized training for staff from underrepresented groups who have already been recruited, measures to retain and advance staff from such groups, and awareness training for all staff.
See also:
Aspiring goal
Assess your parliament against this dimension
Assessment criteria
No 1: Equal-opportunity employer
The legal framework establishes that parliament is an equal-opportunity employer and provides for non-discrimination in the recruitment, employment and advancement of parliamentary staff.
No 2: Gender equality policy or plan
Parliament has a gender equality policy or plan that includes a clear and detailed set of objectives and processes for achieving gender balance within the parliamentary administration, including at senior levels.
No 3: Positive approaches to workforce diversity
Parliament adopts positive approaches that provide real opportunities for all groups in society, including underrepresented groups, to be included in the parliamentary workforce. Human resources policies place a special emphasis on the recruitment, retention and promotion of underrepresented groups.
No 4: Monitoring
Workforce diversity, including gender balance, is regularly monitored. Data on the composition of the parliamentary administration is publicly available. The effectiveness of diversity and gender equality policies is regularly reviewed.
How to complete this assessment
This dimension is assessed against several criteria, each of which should be evaluated separately. For each criterion, select one of the six descriptive grades (Non-existent, Rudimentary, Basic, Good, Very good and Excellent) that best reflects the situation in your parliament, and provide details of the evidence on which this assessment is based.
The evidence for assessment of this dimension could include the following:
- Provisions of the legal framework and/or parliament’s rules of procedure relating to non-discrimination in the employment of staff
- Parliament Parliament A national body of elected (or sometimes appointed) representatives that makes laws, debates issues and holds the government to account. ’s human resources policies
- Parliament Parliament A national body of elected (or sometimes appointed) representatives that makes laws, debates issues and holds the government to account. ’s strategic plan and/or gender policy or plans indicating a commitment to gender balance in the parliamentary administration
- List of holders of senior roles in the parliamentary administration ( Secretary General Secretary General Typically the most senior permanent officer of parliament, who advises on procedure and records the decisions of the house. This person is also usually the administrative head of the parliamentary administration. In some institutions, the role of Secretary General and the responsibilities listed here may be performed by more than one individual or by several offices of jurisdiction. and Deputy Secretary General Secretary General Typically the most senior permanent officer of parliament, who advises on procedure and records the decisions of the house. This person is also usually the administrative head of the parliamentary administration. In some institutions, the role of Secretary General and the responsibilities listed here may be performed by more than one individual or by several offices of jurisdiction. , as well as department managers, deputies and assistants), both currently and in the recent past
- Job descriptions and advertisements on the parliamentary website and other recruitment sites
- Statistics showing staff diversity relative to the diversity of the community
Where relevant, provide additional comments or examples that support the assessment.
Sources and further reading
- Association of Secretaries General of Parliaments (ASPG), Principles for recruitment and career management of staff of the parliamentary administration (2014).
- Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), Recommended Benchmarks for Democratic Legislatures (2018).
- European Parliament Parliament A national body of elected (or sometimes appointed) representatives that makes laws, debates issues and holds the government to account. , Gender equality: What do the parliaments of the European Union do? (2012).
- Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Gender-Sensitive Parliaments: A Global Review of Good Practice (2011).
- IPU, Evaluating the gender-sensitivity of parliaments: A self-assessment toolkit (2016).
- IPU, Guidelines for the elimination of sexism, harassment and violence against women in parliament (2019).
Get help with this assessment
The assessment of indicators involves diagnosing and considering strengths and weaknesses, i.e. the things parliament is doing well, and the things it could do better or more effectively, taking into account established good practices that are described in the indicators.
Read the assessment guidance to find out what to consider when conducting an assessment against the Indicators. Find out how to prepare, how to set the objectives of the assessment, how to organize the process, and more. Contact the project partners for expert advice.
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