no. 07-00-564/2022-02 date: March 12, 2023.

OPINION

The opinion was issued regarding the complaint of AA against Preschool Institution BB due to discrimination based on sex and gender. The complaint stated that the complainant is an educator by profession and participates in every competition announced by PI BB for hiring a certain number of educators. He further states that the best candidates should be hired, but the stereotype that the educator’s job is a “woman’s job” has been nurtured in the kindergarten for years, and that is why he, as a man, was not hired. He points out that all accepted candidates have completed basic studies, while he has specialized studies. It is further stated that not a single male educator is employed in this pre-school institution, that is, only female educators are employed. In the statement of the pre-school institution, it was stated that the complainant is a participant in all competitions for the admission of teachers for an indefinite period published by PI BB, that the Competition Commission, after talking with the complainant, gave its assessment – the evaluation “less satisfactory for professional questions, the quality of the interview is satisfactory to a lesser extent”, while the evaluations of all female candidates who were accepted into the employment relationship are “”largely satisfactory for professional questions and the quality of the interview was largely satisfactory”. In the statement, it was further specified that the high average grade during the studies of the candidate AA, which the complainant constantly emphasizes, is not a sufficient value for the selection of the candidate according to the competition and that gender is not a criterion and value that gives any advantage in the selection of the candidate. In addition to the statement, it was stated that the total number of employees in the preschool administration as of February 1, 2023, is 132, and the structure of employees by gender is 123 women and 9 men, but that no man works as an educator. Analyzing the statement and the supplement to the statement, it is indisputable that 132 people are employed in PI BB in total and that the structure of employees by gender is 123 women and 9 men. Following the insight into at the statement, it is indisputable that not a single man is employed as an educator in PI BB and that these jobs are performed exclusively by women. Taking into account that all the candidates who were hired met the conditions from the competition no. 02-774/1 of June 26, 2022, and that their grades were “largely satisfactory for professional questions and the quality of the interview was largely satisfactory”, and that the complainant received a grade of “less satisfactory for professional questions, the quality of the interview is satisfactory to a lesser extent”, the Commissioner is of the opinion that sex and gender are not causally related to the fact that he was not hired as a teacher in PI BB. Namely, in addition to education, other facts were also considered, such as the grade after the interview and work experience in the profession/education, and the candidates were evaluated based on all those criteria. Allegations from the complaint that the stereotype that the educator’s job is a “woman’s job” has been nurtured in the kindergarten for years are contested by the fact that AA, as a trainee-intern, based on two internship contracts from May 2017 to May 2019, performed the duties of an educator at PI BB. From the submitted Plan of risk management of the violation of the principle of gender equality of PI BB, in which the incentive measure “employing a greater number of men” is envisaged, it can be concluded that in the coming period in this preschool administration, considering the lower representation of the male gender in the structure of employees, measures to reduce the gender imbalance of employees in the period from 2023-2026 are envisaged. Taking into account the above, the Commissioner did not find that the provisions of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination were violated in the specific case. However, bearing in mind that no man is employed as an educator in the preschool administration, as well as that there is a large gender imbalance in the structure of employees, the Commissioner, using the competencies from Article 33, Item 9 of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination, recommended measures to PI BB to take into account in future employment a balanced representation of the genders by applying an affirmative measure and giving priority to the candidate who belongs to the less represented gender in the case of equally qualified candidates for employment.

COMMISSIONER FOR THE PROTECTION OF EQUALITY
Brankica Janković