EQW&L – Equality for Work and Life

The EQW&L project aims to elaborate and test a set of strategies, a new model of intervention and a toolkit to facilitate the access to labour market of unemployed persons – women but not only women - who are hindered from getting and keeping a job by their reconciliation needs. Furthermore, the project aims at supporting SMEs – and namely those in the social economy – in embracing work-life balance friendly working environments.

The focus of the proposal is contemporaneously on the employment services system, on the individuals and on companies.

• On the employment services system proposing and testing strategies the Italian PES network can use to support persons entering or re-entering the labour market which are particularly vulnerable due to their work-life balance needs;
• on the individuals – unemployed and/or looking for a new job to whom, through the EQ&WL project’ services, will be offered the opportunity to recognize and manage specific work life balance needs;
• on companies – and namely on SMEs and social enterprises, which offer relevant employment opportunities for women, but at the same time face more difficulties and constraints than bigger companies or corporations in implementing internal work life balance policies.

EQW&L will specifically address gender stereotypes and unconscious gender bias and define, thanks to the transnational support of REFORM and IWEO (who coordinates in Spain a network involving over 120 companies implementing work-life balance strategies) a business case for SMEs investing in gender-balanced work-life balance policies, showing how these policies can benefit both employers and employees.

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