EU project to reduce gender pay gap - January 2015
Reducing gender pay gap in 28 European countries and Turkey.
The gender pay gap is an disturbing issue. Working women hate the fact that their work, is seen as less relevant than the work of their male colleagues. Women get less salary, less promotion, less education options. They don't get the cool jobs. On top: women tend to have jobs in specific sectors like retail, education and care. You will not see them in the rich sectors as mining, chemicals, finance. If it comes to the jobs, women tend to choose for good jobs, but hardly ever the top. They tend to choose for jobs which allows them to combine work, family and kids.
WageIndicator intend to do a lot on gender pay gap coming years. Special focus Europe and Turkey!
First step:
Next steps before June 2015:
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All you need to know about gender pay gap in your country
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Employers test for gender pay gap
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Employees test for gender pay gap
To expect after June 2015:
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Which occupations have a smaller gap
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What are the smartest clauses in collective agreements to reduce the gap
Key Activities of the Project:
1. Research
Data on the gender pay gap in EU-28+Turkey will be collected from the WageIndicator web survey on work and wages, concentrating particularly on monetary and non-monetary allowances, such as extra pay, bonuses, payments in kind, social security contributions and entitlements, pay arrears, and other relevant data not available through Eurostat. This data will be analysed and reports and tools will be made for trade unions and the general public.
2. Exchange of Good Practices. Focusing on 3 countries, research reports will be shared and in a series of meetings possible clauses for collective bargaining agreements will be developed. The results will be shared with the European trade union movement through meetings and publications.
3. Awareness Raising, Information and Dissemination
Tailor made press releases will inform the media in all 29 countries of the results of the project. Social media strategies will pull the general public to the websites. Local media will pick up and reproduce the press releases. Focusing on the trade union movement and the general public, web tools and individual feedback forms will make the gender pay gap a very real issue for all visitors.
Although fair treatment legislation is ok, gender pay gap in European countries is upto 20 %.
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Four questions related to fair treatment in European countries and Turkey.
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Does the law (constitution, labour code, equal treatment law) require equal pay for equal work without any discrimination (esp. gender)?
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Does the law (constitution, labour code, equal treatment or sexual harassment law) prohibit sexual harassment at work and provide for some penalties?
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Does the law require that people be treated equally in employment opportunities (appointment,promotion, training and transfer) without discrimination on the basis of Sex/Gender; Race; Colour ; Religion; Political Opinion; Nationality/Place of Birth; Social Origin/Caste; Family responsibilities/family status; Age; Disability/HIV-AIDS; Trade union membership and related activities; Language; Sexual Orientation; Marital Status; Physical Appearance; and Pregnancy/Maternity. *
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Can women work in the same industries as men without any stereotyping on the basis of gender?
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Answers to these four questions for all EU countries
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Exceptions
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Turkey
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Yes
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Yes
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No
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Yes
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United Kingdom
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Yes
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Yes
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No
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Yes
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The score of a country depends on the number of discrimination grounds it has prohibited in its legislation. A country scores "Yes" only if it has enacted legislation prohibiting at least 9 of the above (red box) referred 16 grounds. Both United Kingdom and Turkey don't meet this criterion and thus get a negative score. These 16 grounds of discrimination are mostly commonly recognized grounds of discrimination enunciated in many UN Covenants, ILO Convention and EU Directives.
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TEXT: Iftikhar Ahmad, Wageindicator Office, Pakistan
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