Firms will have to reveal and close gender pay-gap

Employers will no longer be able to hide behind secret contracts to disguise how much less they pay women than men for the same work, according to a new legislation adopted by the European Parliament on Thursday (30 March).

In the EU, on average, women earn 13 percent less per hour, according to data by Eurostat, with significant differences between countries: in Latvia, the gender-gap is over 20 percent, and in Luxembourg it is almost invisible. The reasons for the gap are rooted indiscrimination against women and gender bias.

Danish MEP Kira Marie Peter-Hansen, from the Greens — one of the lawmakers in charge of the file — called it a “historical, essential piece of legislation”, and the “best-known tool for closing the gender pay gap”.

“With this directive we have secured the right to information for Europe for all our citizens,” the Dutch liberal MEP Samira Rafaela, the other top lawmaker on the file, said.

“We will have the binding legislation to tackle pay discrimination in all our member states,” she argued, adding that “if we had let it up to the market, the gender pay gap would only correct itself by 2086”.

EU commissioner for equality Helena Dalli said she hopes the pay transparency legislation, which was first proposed by the executive in 2020, will trigger a “cultural change” in companies.