

Research already suggests that the gender pay gap will widen because of the pandemic. It is likely to have long-term adverse effects on gender equality. The coronavirus pandemic has disproportionately affected women in the economic sphere. Across Member States, the gender pay gap varied widely, ranging from 1.3 % in Luxembourg to 21.7 % in Estonia. In 2019, women’s gross hourly earnings were on average 14.1 % below those of men in the European Union ( Eurostat, EU-27). For women with children, women of colour, migrant women, and women with disabilities, the discrepancy is even larger. Despite the increase in women’s educational attainment and participation in the labour market over the years, the gender pay gap remains a persistent and multi-dimensional issue in all countries and across all economic sectors. According to the Global Wage Report 2018/2019 – What lies behind gender pay gaps, produced by the International Labour Organization ( ILO), on average, women earn around 20 % less than men. It generally refers to the average difference between the remuneration of employed women and male workers.Īlthough the gender pay gap is measured by different methods and indicators, data clearly show that women around the world still earn less when compared to men. The ‘gender pay gap’ is a measurable indicator of inequality between women and men. Source: Eurostat, Gender pay gap statistics. Subscribe to In Custodia Legis – it’s free! – to receive interesting posts drawn from the Law Library of Congress’s vast collections and our staff’s expertise in U.S., foreign, and international law.The gender pay gap by Member State.

The Gender Wage Gap: Breaking Through Stalled Progress: Virtual Hearing Before the Joint Economic Committee of the Congress of the United States (June 9, 2021).Buhler, The Gender Pay Gap: Understanding the Numbers (2021)

If you are interested in learning more about the gender pay gap and other gender equality issues in Germany and around the world, take a look at the following selected resources: In order to address this issue, the new German government intends to strengthen the existing legislation on pay transparency and supports an EU directive on that topic. On average, the gender pay gap in the 27 EU member states is 14.1%. 4).ĭespite these measures, Germany has one of the largest gender pay gaps in the European Union (EU) and among EFTA countries. obligation of employers with more than 500 employees to provide regular updates on the status of measures to promote equality in general and wage equality between men and women or explain why there are no such measures in place, with publication of the reports as an attachment to the company’s management report (§ 21, §22, para.encouragement of employers with more than 500 employees to put measures in place to regularly audit the pay structures to ensure equal pay (§ 17) and.enhanced rights of the Works Council to enforce the employee’s right to information (§§ 13, 14, & 15).the legal right of an individual employee to request information on the company’s fixed basic gross salary and on one or two salary components in companies with more than 200 workers (§§ 10, 12).legal definition of “equal work or work of equal value” (§ 4).prohibition of direct and indirect pay discrimination based on gender and the requirement to observe the principle of equal pay (Transparency in Wage Structures Act, §§ 3, 7).The act provides the following measures to promote transparency in pay structures: ( General Act on Equal Treatment, § 2.) In 2017, Germany passed a law to ensure equal pay for equal work or work of equal value for women and men in the same workplace, the Transparency in Wage Structures Act ( Entgelttransparenzgesetz). In general, German law forbids discrimination in pay on the basis of gender, among other categories.
