The national system of gender equality certification was introduced in Italy by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) and governed by the law of November 5, 2021, no. 162, which included it in the Code of equal opportunities. It certifies the policies and measures adopted by the employer on four fronts: opportunities for growth within the company, equal pay for equal work, management of gender differences, protection of maternity.
The technical parameter is the reference practice UNI/PdR 125:2022, developed by the Italian Standardization Body and adopted by ministerial decree as a minimum requirement for obtaining certification. It defines a management system based on key performance indicators (KPI), distributed over six assessment areas, with an access threshold of 60% of the total score. Four years after launch, Accredia ranks the scheme fourth in terms of spread among companies in Italy, with 62 accredited bodies and 38,652 certified company sites as of September 2025.
On the international level operates instead the ISO 30415:2021, published in May 2021, which covers the broader scope of diversity and inclusion in human resource management and is however a guideline, not subject to certifications. The article examines the regulatory framework, the structure of the Italian scheme, the relationship with international tools, the advantages and the burdens associated with adoption.
Legal reference context
The Code of equal opportunities between men and women (Legislative Decree 11 April 2006, no. 198) is the consolidated text that gathers the rules on equality at work: prohibitions of discrimination, judicial protection, informational obligations for companies. Two laws intervened on this framework in 2021.
The law 5 November 2021, no. 162 (Gribaudo law) modified the Code on three fronts:
– lowered from one hundred to over fifty employees the threshold of theobligation to prepare of the biennial report on the situation of male and female staff, allowing voluntary preparation by companies with up to fifty employees, and assigned the National Labour Inspectorate the verification of the truthfulness of the reports, with penalties from 1,000 to 5,000 euros for false or incomplete reports (article 3);
– established the gender equality certification in article 46-bis of the Code, delegating to decrees of the President of the Council of Ministers the minimum parameters, data monitoring methods, involvement of trade union representatives and equality counselors, and publicity methods (article 4);
– provided, under the heading ‘Equality incentives’, a contribution exemption up to 1% of social security contributions payable by the employer, up to 50,000 euros annually per company and within the available annual budget, as well as incentive criteria in public procurement and access to benefits (article 5)
The law 30 December 2021, no. 234 completed the framework. In implementation of article 1, paragraph 147, the Minister for Equal Opportunities and the Family identified by decree of 29 April 2022 the UNI/PdR 125:2022 as minimum parameter for obtaining certification and of legal benefitsThe same decree regulates the role of accredited bodies as well as the involvement of trade union representatives and equality counselors. Article 1, paragraph 138, then increased from 2023 the endowment of the Fund for the support of gender pay equality.
In the contracts Article 47, paragraph 2, of decree-law 31 May 2021, no. 77, converted by law 29 July 2021, no. 108, also operates: in procedures financed, in whole or in part, with resources from the PNRR and the National Plan for Complementary Investments, economic operators with over fifty employees must produce a copy of the latest report on the staff situation, under penalty of exclusion.
Pay transparency
Directive (EU) 2023/970 on Pay transparency was implemented with Legislative Decree 7 May 2026, no. 96, effective from 7 June 2026. The obligations are therefore already operative:
– every job offer must indicate the initial remuneration or the expected pay range, and it is forbidden to ask the candidate for their previous salary;
– employers with at least one hundred employees must report the data on gender pay gap to the monitoring body established at the Ministry of Labour: first communication by 7 June 2027 for over 150 employees and by 7 June 2031 between 100 and 149, then annually for over 250 employees and every three years below that;
– a average pay gap equal to or greater than 5% in a category of workers, not justified by objective and neutral criteria, must be corrected within six months; failing that, a joint assessment with the workers' representatives is triggered, the outcomes of which are transmitted to the competent authority;
– the application of a collective agreement stipulated by the comparatively most representative trade union organizations constitutes presumption of conformity, which does not exclude the proof of individual discriminatory treatments;
– discriminatory behaviors are subject to the remedies of Article 41 of the Code of Equal Opportunities. Domestic work and intermittent work are excluded.
Sustainability labels and certification obligation
From 27 September 2026, by effect of Legislative Decree 20 February 2026, n. 30 — which has transposed Directive (EU) 2024/825 modifying the Consumer Code — it is forbidden to display asustainability label that is not based on a certification system or established by a public authority. This notion includes trust marks, quality marks and equivalent signs, of a voluntary nature, that qualify a product, a process or a company by referring to environmental or social characteristics.
The ban thus affects the sign, not the information. The enterprise remains free to communicate specific and verifiable data on its equality policies, provided they are truthful and demonstrable; it is instead forbidden, as seen in the examination of the SA8000 scheme, to affix a social sustainability seal lacking an upstream certification system. Certification accredited according to UNI/PdR 125 meets that requirement, as it is based on third-party verification, independent accreditation, and public requirements.
The certification scheme
The UNI/PdR 125:2022
The practice UNI/PdR 125:2022— ‘Guidelines on management system for the gender equality which provides for the adoption of specific KPI related to gender equality policies in organizations‘ — is freely downloadable from the UNI website and applies to any organization, public or private, regardless of size and sector, provided it has employees.
The evaluation is divided into six areas, each with a percentage weight out of a total of 100:
– culture and strategy (15%): integration of gender equality in vision and values, strategic plan, internal and external communication, training on stereotypes and unconscious biases;
– governance (15%): dedicated oversight, processes to identify and manage forms of non-inclusiveness, budget, objectives assigned to leadership, presence of minority gender in governing and supervisory bodies;
– human resources processes (10%): selection, onboarding, development and exit based on principles of inclusion;
– opportunities for growth and inclusion of women in the company (20%): female presence in key roles, promotion rates, spending delegations;
– pay equity by gender (20%): pay differential for equivalent roles and policies ensuring equity, within the logic of total reward;
– protection of parenthood and work-life balance work-life (20%): leave, flexibility, support measures.
Each indicator is associated with a score, weighted by the area weight. Certification requires a summary score not less than 60%, measured through quantitative KPIs — percentage changes relative to internal data or reference values — and qualitative ones, based on the presence or absence of policies and practices.
Certification and maintenance process
The certification path includes initial data collection, a document audit and an on-site audit, independent review by the body and issuance of the certificate, which has three-year validity and is subject to audit surveillance annualThe organization is required to monitor KPIs annually and verify improvement biennially.
The certification can only be issued by bodies accredited by Accredia, pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 765/2008. Contribution exemptions and rewards require accredited certification, not a generic third-party attestation.
The diffusion It is documented by the Accredia database: from the first three accreditations in July 2022, it increased to 50 organizations and 8,388 certified sites in December 2023, to 54 organizations and over 16,000 sites in December 2024, to 62 organizations and 38,652 sites in September 2025. The count is by sites, not by companies; the PNRR target, set at 800 certified companies by 2026, is therefore exceeded.
The ISO 30415:2021
The guideline ISO 30415:2021 — Human resource management. Diversity and inclusion does not limit itself to gender but covers inclusive culture, the human resources life cycle, the design of products and services, supply chain management, and stakeholder engagement.
Unfortunately, the document is not designed for conformity certification: some organizations offer on this basis third-party evaluations or maturity attestations, which lack the legal effects recognized by Italian law for accredited certification according to UNI/PdR 125.
The international private schemes
The EDGE Certified Foundation, headquartered in Switzerland, manages three standards:
- EDGE, built on a binary reading of gender;
- EDGEPlus, which measures the intersection between gender and other dimensions of diversity and which, according to the foundation's statement, does not yet provide scoring thresholds;
- EDGE Pay Equity and Transparency, dedicated to the analysis of pay equity, managing the pay gap, and transparency of remuneration structures.
The certification operates as a third-party system, with audits conducted by organizations independent from the foundation owning the standard and approved by it — including FLOCERT, Intertek, and SGS — and four progressive levels: Assess, Move, Advance, Lead.
WEConnect International, Washington-based non-profit organization, certifies instead in 63 markets the businesses owned, managed and controlled by at least 51% by women, with a database of more than 22,000 businesses in over 140 countries and more than 180 buyers members, with a declared purchasing power exceeding 4 trillion dollars: among them Nestlé — which measures spending on female suppliers through this registration — Unilever, Olam, Kroger, Walmart and Compass Group. Private women-owned businesses worldwide account for one third of the total and receive less than 1% of the spending by large companies and public administrations.
Advantages and burdens related to UNI certification
Advantages
Article 5, paragraph 1, of Law 162/2021 recognizes to private companies certified UNI/PdR 125 a partial exemption from the payment of social security contributions total borne by the employer, not exceeding 1% and within the limit of 50,000 euros annually per company, according to the criteria of the interministerial decree of 20 October 2022.
This measure also has an annual: granted only for 2022 within the limit of 50 million euros, it must be refinanced year by year (Article 5, paragraph 6). The INPS campaigns consequently open in phases — the last for certifications obtained by 31 December 2025, with applications until 30 April 2026 — is theexemption applies to the entire three-year period of the certificate.
The possession of the certificate is also relevant in theaccess to public funding, on two distinct levels (Law 162/2021, Article 5, paragraph 3):
– in incentives based on European, national and regional funds, it entitles to a bonus score in the evaluation of project proposals, provided it is held at the date of application submission;
– in contracts, obliges awarding administrations to indicate in the calls for tender the bonus criteria related to its possession as of 31 December of the previous year.
The bonus criteria also affect the score of the most economically advantageous offer in tender procedures for the supply of foodstuffs and for the awarding of catering service colleffective to public administrations.
The KPIs of the practice finally feed the gender reporting, the sustainability reports and the obligations to communicate wage gaps introduced by Legislative Decree 96/2026, reducing duplications in data collection.
Burdens
I costs Implementation costs of UNI/PdR 125 include the setup of the management system, data collection and analysis for KPI calculation, and the revision of personnel policies. In addition to the fees of the certification body, for the initial audit and annual surveillances, there is the ongoing commitment to maintain the score above the 60% threshold and to show improvement over time. The 2026 edition of the FAQs also tightened the interpretation of several indicators, reducing margins for flexible reading.
Conclusions
The Italian scheme has led in three years to nearly forty thousand certified sites, an unprecedented result for a voluntary national practice. UNI/PdR 125 provides measurable indicators and a verifiable threshold; ISO 30415 offers a broader framework, covering diversity and inclusion beyond the gender dimension, but without providing certifiable requirements per se.
The value of accredited certification has meanwhile increased due to regulations: from pay transparency already in force to incentive criteria in tenders, up to the regime of sustainability labels applicable from 27 September 2026. What was a competitive advantage in 2022 is today, in several contexts, an access condition.
Dario Dongo
References
European Union regulatory sources
Directive (EU) 2023/970 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 May 2023 to strengthen the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women through pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms. http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2023/970/oj
Directive (EU) 2024/825 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 February 2024 amending Directives 2005/29/EC and 2011/83/EU as regards empowering consumers for the green transition through better protection against unfair practices and through better information. Official Journal of the European Union, L, 6.3.2024. http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2024/825/oj
Italian regulatory sources
Legislative Decree 11 April 2006, No. 198. Code of equal opportunities between men and women, pursuant to Article 6 of Law 28 November 2005, No. 246. Normattiva (last update to the act published on 23/05/2026). https://www.normattiva.it/uri-res/N2Ls?urn:nir:stato:decreto.legislativo:2006-04-11;198
Law Decree 31 May 2021, No. 77. Governance of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and initial measures to strengthen administrative structures and to accelerate and streamline procedures, converted with amendments by Law 29 July 2021, No. 108. Normattiva (last update to the act published on 20/04/2026). https://www.normattiva.it/uri-res/N2Ls?urn:nir:stato:decreto.legge:2021-05-31;77
Law 5 November 2021, No. 162. Amendments to the code referred to in Legislative Decree 11 April 2006, No. 198, and other provisions on equal opportunities between men and women in the workplace. Normattiva (last update to the act published on 10/12/2025). https://www.normattiva.it/uri-res/N2Ls?urn:nir:stato:legge:2021-11-05;162
Law 30 December 2021, No. 234. State budget forecast for the financial year 2022 and multi-year budget for the three-year period 2022-2024. Normattiva (last update to the act published on 06/08/2026). https://www.normattiva.it/uri-res/N2Ls?urn:nir:stato:legge:2021-12-30;234
Legislative Decree 20 February 2026, No. 30. Implementation of Directive (EU) 2024/825, amending Directives 2005/29/EC and 2011/83/EU concerning consumer empowerment for the green transition through improved protection from unfair practices and better information. Normattiva. https://www.normattiva.it/uri-res/N2Ls?urn:nir:stato:decreto.legislativo:2026;30
Legislative Decree 7 May 2026, No. 96. Implementation of Directive (EU) 2023/970. Normattiva. https://www.normattiva.it/eli/id/2026/06/01/26G00112/ORIGINAL
Technical documents and institutional sources
Accredia. (2026, January 19). Gender equality: updated FAQs on the accredited certification UNI/PdR 125. https://www.accredia.it/comunicazione/notizie/parita-di-genere-aggiornate-le-faq-sulla-certificazione-accreditata-uni-pdr-125/
Accredia & UNI. (2026). UNI/PdR 125 Frequently Asked Questions. Application addresses for UNI/PdR 125, edition 2026. https://www.accredia.it/documenti/faq-indirizzi-applicativi-per-la-uni-pdr-125/
Department for Equal Opportunities. The minimum parameters for obtaining gender equality certification. Presidency of the Council of Ministers. https://www.pariopportunita.gov.it/it/attuazione-misure-pnrr/i-parametri-minimi-per-l-ottenimento-della-certificazione-della-parita-di-genere/
EDGE Certified Foundation. The basics of the EDGE global standards. https://www.edge-cert.org/edge-standards-the-basics/
INPS. (2025, December 16). Message No. 3804. Gender equality contribution exemption: indications and deadlines. https://www.inps.it/it/it/inps-comunica/notizie/dettaglio-news-page.news.2025.12.esonero-contributivo-parit-di-genere-indicazioni-e-scadenze.html
ISO. (2021). ISO 30415:2021. Human resource management — Diversity and inclusion. International Organization for Standardization. https://www.iso.org/standard/71164.html
Ministry of Labour and Social Policies. Biennial report on the situation of male and female staff for companies employing more than 50 employees. https://www.lavoro.gov.it/priorita/pagine/rapporto-biennale-sulla-situazione-del-personale-maschile-e-femminile-per-le-imprese-che-occupano-oltre-50-dipendenti
UNI. (2022). UNI/PdR 125:2022. Guidelines on the management system for gender equality providing for the adoption of specific KPIs related to gender equality policies in organizations. Italian Standardization Body. https://store.uni.com/uni-pdr-125-2022
WEConnect International. About buyer membership. https://weconnectinternational.org/about-buyer-membership/
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT – Food Times) and Égalité.
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