New European legislation, designed to better understand the gender pay gap, is so narrow that two-thirds of European workers are excluded. In the Netherlands, according to the trade union umbrella organization Etuc, this is slightly less than two thirds.
The legislation is woefully inadequate because the reporting obligation only applies to companies with more than 250 employees, according to the union umbrella. Two thirds work for smaller companies. In the Netherlands, according to figures from the European Commission, almost 3.8 million employees are not subject to the reporting obligation and more than 2 million employees are.
“Corona made clearer than ever how essential work, especially done by women, is undervalued. Mandatory pay transparency could be a solid tool to close that scandalous 14 percent pay gap. But the Commission is sparing no expense by professing the interests of female employees by mouth and by weakening its own rules behind the scenes, under pressure from the corporate lobby,” said Etuc CEO Esther Lynch.
Equal pay
She wants the European Parliament to correct the Commission. “Too many employers can otherwise secretly continue to pay men more than women while doing the same work. The right to equal pay should not depend on the size of the company you work for.”
The Netherlands still stands out relatively favourably. In Greece, 88 percent of employees fall outside the reporting obligation, in Italy, Latvia, Lithuania and Cyprus it is around 80 percent. Even in France, with the highest number of employees in large companies, less than half would be subject to the reporting obligation. “Pay transparency was one of the big promises this Commission made when it took office, but 460 days later we have a bill that falls seriously short,” said the spokesperson for 45 million workers in 39 European countries.
waited long enough
The Commission says that a threshold is necessary in order not to impose costs on employers, but the union umbrella does not consider that an argument: the first year an employer spends an average of 315 to 500 euros, the following years less than 100 euros. Lynch: “The principle of equal pay has been in the European Treaties since 1957. Women have waited long enough.”
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