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

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

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Gender pay gap. The Committee notes from the Government’s report the findings of the national studies on the causes of the gender pay gap, including that women are more likely to work part time or drop out of the labour market to pursue unpaid caregiving jobs, to be overlooked for professional development and to be offered lower wages than men. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the follow-up to these studies and the action taken or envisaged to address the various causes of the pay gap and the results achieved, including awareness raising and training to make the findings better understood and acted upon by policy-makers, social partners and workers themselves.

Work of equal value and the scope of comparison. Referring to its previous comments, the Committee notes that, while several amendments were made to strengthen the Act on Equal Status and Equal Rights of Women and Men No. 10/2008 in regard to non-discrimination and equal pay, no changes were made to the limitation to the same employer of the scope of the statutory requirement for equal pay for women and men set out in sections 19 and 25. Recalling that not only this Convention, but also European Directive 2006/54/EC, provide that the principle of equal pay is not limited to situations in which men and women work for the same employer, and that occupational segregation is recognized as a cause of pay inequality, the Committee asks the Government how it intends to ensure that the principle of the Convention can be applied beyond the same employer, particularly in sectors and enterprises predominantly employing women.

Article 3. Objective job evaluation. Referring to its previous comments, the Committee notes that once again the Government’s report fails to contain any information on the use or study of objective job evaluation to promote the application of the principle of the Convention. Recalling that some municipalities use job evaluation in wage determination and that the Plan of Action on Gender Equality regarding Wages (2012–16) encouraged studies on job evaluations, the Committee once again asks the Government to provide information on any studies carried out or exercises undertaken to assess the impact of job evaluation in reducing the gender pay gap. It also asks the Government to provide information on any plans or studies envisaged to consider how objective job evaluation methodology can be better used to reduce the existing gender pay gap.

Enforcement. The Committee asks the Government to continue providing information on decisions or rulings relating to the principle of the Convention by the courts or the Gender Equality Complaints Committee pursuant to Act No. 10/2008.