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

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Iceland (Ratification: 1958)

The Committee notes the information contained in the Government’s detailed reports. It asks the Government to provide further information in its next report on the following points.

1. The Committee notes that in article 14 of the Act on the Equal Status and Equal Rights of Women and Men, No. 96/2000 on "Pay Equality", the scope of the provision is limited to "women and men who are employed by the same employer". The Committee recalls again the importance of allowing for evaluations to be conducted more broadly, including comparison of jobs in different sectors of employment and occupations. The Committee asks the Government to indicate the measures taken to allow for the principle of equal pay for work of equal value to be implemented beyond the level of the same enterprise where wages are fixed at wider than enterprise level.

2. The Committee had asked in previous comments for the reports of the Wage Investigation Committee, reported to be the body in charge of regularly compiling and publishing information on wages, disaggregated by sex, institutions, and occupations. The Committee notes that in the Government’s most recent report there is no mention of this Committee and would be grateful for clarification on who is responsible for wage compilation and analysis. It notes that a number of other institutions are reported to collect statistics on wage levels, namely the City of Reykjavik, the Store and Office Workers’ Union and the Gender Equality Council. From these sources, the Committee notes the positive developments in reducing the gender pay gap in some areas. However, it notes that there remains a gap of between 3.5 per cent and 18 per cent, and that this gap is wider in higher skilled occupations, such as professionals and technicians and for service and sales workers, and it is narrower for elementary occupations and clerks. The Committee also notes the figures in the 2001 Statistical Yearbook of Iceland, that show that women’s total income as a proportion of men’s total income was about 60 per cent in 2000. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that the Gender Equality Council and the Committee on Women’s Economic Situation launched a study on the gender pay gap in September 2002, which reveals that women receive 70 per cent of men’s wages. It notes that according to this study two-thirds of this gap are explained in terms of different fields of work, the nature of jobs, education and employment terms, and that what is then left, about 7.5-11 per cent wage difference, seems to exist because of marriage, childbearing and other causes affecting mostly women. The Committee also notes the Government’s indication that as a result of a European project on wage differences between women and men, called "Towards a Closing of the Gender Gap", carried out in 2002, the gender pay gap in the public and private labour market in Iceland is 24 and 27.4 per cent respectively. However it faced some difficulties due to the lack of availability of basic information. The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide statistical information in order to assess fully the extent and nature of the pay differentials and the progress achieved in implementing the principle of the Convention. Please also continue to include any analysis undertaken within the country to assess the reasons for wage disparity.

3. With respect to use of job evaluations, the Committee notes the information on the experimental job-evaluation project, based on a British model, carried out by the City of Reykjavik and the Association of Local Authorities to develop a gender-neutral job evaluation instrument. Please indicate the results achieved through the job evaluation project. Please also supply information on other measures undertaken to implement the recommendations issued in the 1998 report on the project on occupational assessments using gender-neutral job ranking, to which the Committee referred in its previous comments.

4. The Committee notes the renewed emphasis placed on addressing the gender wage gap and the linkages made to improvements in the reconciliation of work and family responsibilities. It also notes the range of awareness raising and educational activities established to ensure equal educational opportunities and to promote women’s participation in higher status jobs. In particular, the Committee notes with interest the two-year multilateral agreement that has been signed to enhance women in leadership in the labour market, which is intended "to eradicate stereotyped gender roles in education and to diminish the gender wage gap in knowledge society of the future". The Committee would be grateful to receive information on the results achieved by this programme and to continue to receive information on these activities and the impact they have on reducing the pay gap.

5. The Committee thanks the Government for the information on the number and nature of complaints filed to the Complaints Committee and also for the relevant court decisions and asks the Government to continue to submit such information, including copies of the most relevant decisions on wage discrimination between men and women for equal work.