Seminar About Equal Pay and Family Leaves in Iceland Helsinki, Finland September 25, 2018

1. Enforcing Equal Pay Principle
by pay transparency
Icelandic and other models
Kevät Nousiainen
Government Banquet Hall, September 25

2. Gender pay gap as a legal problem
• Since 1950s, equal pay for equal work and work of equal value has
been a legal principle (ILO Convention No 100, European Social
Charter, EU founding treaties, CEDAW Convention)
• Gender pay gap remains: the principle has not been effectively
implemented
• There are various structural problems behind the pay gap
(segregation of the labour market, women’s overachievement in
family responsibilities)
• BUT there is even gender based pay discrimination

3. Problem of enforcement in combating pay
discrimination
• The principle of equal pay is widely accepted, and prohibits pay
discrimination
• Pay discrimination includes direct and indirect pay discrimination, and
requires equal pay for work of equal value
• In today’s Europe, direct pay discrimination among men and women
doing same work is rare
• Pay discrimination is difficult to detect, and remedies available to
victims require access to pay information

4. Why pay information is so crucial?
• Detecting pay discrimination requires comparison between pay of
individuals or groups of female and male employees; anly court case
on pay discrimination requires such a comparison
• Thus, pay information is crucial, and in cases of indirect pay
discrimination, or work of equal value, information concerning groups
of employees is necessary
• Without such information, there is no effective remedy against pay
discrimination in the legal sense
• Recent EU report stresses that lack of transparency causes failure of
implementation of the equal pay principle

5. Pay transparency in the heart of pay equality
• European Commission’s Recommendation on Pay Transparency
(2014) (relevant for the EEA) recommends that member states adopt
at least one of proposed transparency measures:
• Employees’ right to request information of the pay level, broken
down by gender, for categories of employees doing equal work or
work of equal value, including various pay components
• Reporting to employees, workers’ representatives and social partners
on pay, in organisations with at least 50 employees
• Pay audits in organisations of at least 150 employees available to
workers’ representatives and social partners

6. Icelandic model
• The model is based on a set of standards and equality certifications
• Both ambitious and meticulous: setting technical standards agreed
upon by all stakeholders
• The model has backing in legislation – as measures combatting
discrimination should have
• The system aims at a systematically equal pay setting
• It also allows employees to detect possible discrimination
• The model is discrimination sensitive (for example, all pay
compontents are involved)

7. Is the Icelandic model transferable?
• The model is based on a ’certification culture’, which requires
considerable cooperation among stakeholders
• Preconceived notions of value of gendered occupations are global,
but vary from nation to nation
• The preconditions of a national consensus?