Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2003, published 92nd ILC session (2004)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Denmark (Ratification: 1960)

The Committee takes note of the Government’s report and of the attached publications that include legislation.

1. Article 2(1) of the Convention. In its previous report the Committee asked the Government to provide information on the implementation of the Act on equality between women and men (Act No. 388). The Committee notes with interest the Government’s statement indicating that since 2001 the gender equality section has been working on the implementation of the mainstreaming strategy as prescribed by Act No. 388, and that this work is based on an interministerial steering group, which has drawn up a framework action plan for 2002-06 that was enclosed to the report. It also notes that the Minister for Gender Equality submits every year a statement, a perspective and a ministerial action plan on gender equality, including initiatives on equal pay and the gender segregated labour market, and that it has enclosed a copy of the latest action plan from March 2002 to the report.

2. The Committee also notes with interest the adoption of the Act on Gender Equality of 30 May 2002, according to which municipal authorities have a statutory obligation to give a report on gender equality every second year; of the Consolidation Act No. 553 of 2 July 2002 that prescribes compensations to the aggrieved person due to violation of Act No. 373; and of the amendments to Act No. 445 of 7 June 2001, under which an employee has the right to pass on information relating to his/her own wage conditions to anyone.

3. The Committee takes note of the information provided in the Labour Market Report, 2001, a copy of which is attached to the report, according to which women continue to dominate in the health and pedagogical educations, while a greater proportion of men are trained as skilled craftsmen and in technical fields. It states also that differences between men and women are reflected in branches and labour functions. It also notes the Government’s indication that an agreement has been reached by the county/municipal parties to carry out a project that focuses on wage formation, including gender-based wage differentials between the private and county/municipal sector. The Committee hopes that the Government will take into account the findings of the abovementioned report and of the project to reduce the gap between men’s and women’s remuneration levels and to eliminate horizontal and vertical segregation.

4. The Committee hopes that the Government will continue to provide information on the impact of the abovementioned activities and legislation on reducing the existing remuneration gap, mainly in the private sector, and the occupational segregation in both private and public sectors.

5. The Committee notes with interest the Government’s indication that according to the Union of Commercial and Clerical Employees in Denmark, women’s wages have risen up to 1 per cent more than those of men in the private labour market. In its previous comments the Committee asked the Government to keep it informed regarding measures aimed at reducing the wage differences between men and women, particularly men and women covered by collective agreements. The Committee notes the information indicating that both the Danish Employers’ Confederation (DA) and the Confederation of Danish Trade Unions (LO) consider that the problem of unequal pay is not related to collective bargaining and that it is even higher in sectors without collective agreements. The Committee notes that the Ministries of Employment and Gender Equality, the Centre for Equal Opportunities Research and five municipalities participate in a project to develop tools to ensure gender-neutral collective bargaining. The Government states that its task is to make sure that the most recent knowledge on gender equality on the labour market becomes available at seminars, conferences and via reports, and to put that knowledge into practical use in the enterprises and to influence collective agreements. It also notes that in the summer of 2002 the DA and the LO launched an analysis work with a view to establishing a joint analytical reference framework for an equal pay debate in connection with collective bargaining in the field of the DA and LO in 2004, and the launch of the campaign called "close the wage gap" by the LO. The Committee hopes that the Government will provide information with its next report on the impact of these activities to reduce the wage gap between men and women in the private sector, and to provide relevant statistical data.

6. Article 2(2)(b). Referring to its previous comments on the new decentralized wage system, the Committee notes the information in the Government’s report indicating that the statistics disaggregated by sex since 1999 have given no indication as to whether the new wage system favours one sex rather than the other. It notes with interest that in 2002 the Ministry of Finance and its counterpart agreed to ensure a balanced wage development in the new wage systems, which means that gender-based differences should not develop in the local wage formation. The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide information on the activities carried out to ensure the application of the principle of equal pay between men and women in the new wage systems.

7. Article 3. The Committee takes note of the information provided in the Labour Market Report 2001, according to which even the most advanced statistical methods cannot fully incorporate all the factors which enter into the determination of the individual’s salary, and that factors such as ability to cooperate, work efficiency or degree of personal involvement with the job cannot be measured. However, the report states that the greater part of the difference between men’s and women’s wages is due to education, job, branch, and labour market experience. It also notes that the Government has attached the report on job evaluation and equal remuneration published in January 2001 as it was requested in its previous comments. However, as it is in the Danish language, it was not possible at this session to examine this report, and the Committee may comment on it at its next session.

8. The Committee notes that in the spring of 2001 the LO and the agricultural sector agreed on provisions determining that the trade unions are entitled to receive relevant data so as to determine whether there is a basis for taking legal action in equal remuneration cases, which will improve the opportunities to monitor and sanction breaches of equal remuneration provisions. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on this data and it reiterates its previous request to the Government to provide information on how the legal database is linked to the activities of the Minister of Equality, the Knowledge Centre and the Equal Status Board in promoting equal pay for work of equal value.