Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

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

The Committee notes with interest the numerous measures taken by the Government, in collaboration with workers’ and employers’ organizations, to improve the application of the Convention by specifically addressing and reducing the gender pay gap. These measures include the adoption of a Plan of Action on Gender Equality regarding Wages (2012–16), the establishment of a task force to function as a forum for collaboration between the Government and the social partners on equal pay issues, the development of the Equal Pay Standard IST 85:2012 and a certification system on equal pay, and the undertaking of studies to identify the situation of women in the labour market and the causes of pay inequality. The Committee notes that, after much study and experimentation, the Act on equal status and equal rights of women and men No. 10/2008 has been amended by Act No. 56/2017 to require a company or institution with an average of 25 or more employees to acquire certification on an annual basis to confirm that the equal pay system meets the requirements of the Equal Pay Standard IST 85:2012. The outcome of certification together with a report is to be sent to the Centre for Gender Equality. The Act also provides that the organizations of employers and workers can negotiate the inclusion in collective agreements of the manner in which the equal pay audit will be conducted in accordance with the Equal Pay Standard IST 85:2012. The Act further requires the social partners to monitor that companies and institutions acquire the required certification and the maintenance by the Centre for Gender Equality of a public register of companies and institutions that have acquired certification. The Committee also notes that these measures have been supplemented to tackle other identified causes of the gender pay gap, including horizontal and vertical gender segregation in the labour market and within companies and the issue of balancing work and family responsibilities for both men and women. These other measures are addressed in the Committee’s comments on the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), and the Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156). The Committee welcomes the comprehensive approach taken by the Government and the social partners and asks the Government to provide detailed information on the specific outcomes and impact of the Plan of Action on Gender Equality regarding Wages (2012–16) and any follow-up that is envisaged or undertaken to continue to promote and guide action to reduce the gender pay gap. The Committee also asks the Government to provide information on the implementation, monitoring, enforcement and impact of the new provisions of the Act on equal status and equal rights of women and men No. 10/2008 requiring equal pay certification, including any action taken by the Centre for Gender Equality and by the social partners, and any collective agreements that have taken up the certification process.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.