Plans by businesses to block pay transparency would impact over 10 million working women, costing them a total of at least 4.8 billion Euros a year, according to new findings based on ETUI research.
Business Europe are pushing the Commission to exclude the majority of companies covered by the Pay Transparency Directive from having to report on the gender pay gap amongst their workers. They want to bring in a carve out for companies of between 100 and 250 employees.
These companies employ over 10 million women. These workers would be kept in the dark on the gender pay gap in their workplace as a result of the carve out.
Transparency has been shown to be a crucial lever for women workers and their unions to reduce the gender pay gap. Independent academic research suggests that companies in which there is pay transparency have gender pay gaps that are 10-20% smaller.
This research, published ahead of the Roadmap for Women’s Rights, shows the need for binding rules to forward equality in the workplace and beyond. The ETUC is calling on the European Commission to stand firm and not roll back on the EU’s Pay Transparency Directive. Instead, the Commission must see through full implementation of the Directive and announce concrete follow-up measures in its upcoming Roadmap for Women’s Rights.
Isabelle Schömann, ETUC Deputy General Secretary said:
“International Women’s Day is a day of action – not of hollow phrases. The European Commission must include strong measures to support equal pay in its upcoming Roadmap for Women’s Rights.
“Equality thrives on transparency. The more we can shine a light on discrimination, the more we can force action to address its injustice.
“But clearly some are hellbent on keeping us in the dark. The companies that are actively working to roll back hard-won measures that are known to narrow the gender pay gap should be ashamed.
“The Commission must now draw the line. Companies have been playing the card of being overburdened by regulation, but it is women workers who for too long have been overburdened with low pay. We refuse to foot the bill.
“It is time to stand up for pay equality and give working women and their unions the tools they need to uncover pay discrimination and the undervaluation of work done by women .”
Notes:
Background note on pay transparency and the gender pay gap
The estimates included above are based on an assumption of pay transparency reducing the gender pay gap by 10%, the more conservative of estimates found in academic research. If we were to assume a reduction of 15%, which more accurately reflects the findings, the cost to women would be 7.2 billion Euros per year.
