MEPs gave this Thursday their final approval of the Directive on Salary Transparency that will force some employers to make public the average salaries disaggregated by sex, in an attempt to end the wage gap between men and women.
“Today is a historic day”, said the Danish MEP of the Greens after approving the agreement Kira M. Peter-Hansen. “We have reached a huge milestone in Europe for the rights of women and workers, and for the fight against pay discrimination.”
According to the new regulations, approved by the MEPs by 427 votes in favour, 79 against and 76 abstentions, from now on employers will have to disclose the pay scale in job advertisements or before an interview is held. They should also provide full information on individual and average salary levelsbroken down by sex, when requested by an employee.
Employers with at least 100 employees will also have to publish information on the wage gap between men and women every three years, and the larger ones must do so more regularly. If the reported wage difference is at least 5 percent, employers will have to carry out a wage assessment in cooperation with employee representatives.
“We say to European companies: ‘Show your true colors,'” the Dutch MEP said at the press conference after the vote. samira rafael (Renew), also draftsman of the law. “With this legislation we no longer allow salary secrecy, because secrets are the best way to keep inequality alive. We want people to ask for and demand information, and for it to be made public. That will happen so we can hold companies accountable.”
No more wage discrimination
The Directive also shifts the burden of proof to employers in the event of a pay dispute and opens the door to compensation for workers who have suffered wage discrimination based on gender, such as salary packages, bonuses and other payments in kind.
In the meantime, EU countries are urged to set specific penalties for breaches of the equal pay rule, including fines. The wage difference between men and women in the Union stood at almost 13 percent in 2021, which means that women earn, on average, 13 percent less per hour than men.
Estonia, Austria and Germany have the biggest wage differences in the bloc, with rates of 20.5 percent, 18 and 17.6 percent, respectively. Slovenia, Romania and Luxembourg —in turn 3.8, 3.6 and -0.2 percent— have the lowest wage differences.
Some of the reasons for the pay gap between men and women are the overrepresentation of women in relatively low-paid sectors such as care, health and education, more time spent on unpaid work such as childcare and housework —which may have an impact on professional options—, the so-called glass ceiling due to the lower number of women in management positions or salary discrimination.
The Romanian MEP Dragoş Pîslaru (Renew), chairman of the Employment and Social Affairs committee, told reporters that this “gap has a long-term impact on women’s quality of life, increasing the risk of poverty and the persistent pay gap in pensions , which today is 33 percent.
Member states now have to formally approve the agreement.
Source: Euronews Español
