Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

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

Articles 1 to 4 of the Convention.Gender pay gap. The Committee notes that, according to Eurostat statistics, the unadjusted gender pay gap on the basis of average gross hourly earnings was 13.9 per cent in 2020 (down from 15 per cent in 2016). Eurostat 2020 data also show that the gender pay gap is higher in the private sector (13.7 per cent) than in the public sector (11.2 per cent), and that the sectors where the gender gap is the highest are the financial and insurance sector (18.1 per cent) and the professional, scientific and technical sector (18 per cent). The Committee further notes that, according to the document entitled “Gender Equality – An incomplete success”, published in 2022 in the official website of Denmark administrated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 85 per cent of the gender pay gap can be traced to “the segregated labour market in which male dominated jobs tend to pay more than female dominated jobs, and the fact that men tend to be higher up in the professional hierarchy”. The same document adds that there is still a 15 per cent “invisible” pay difference that cannot be explained, and that the Government is working on identifying its root causes. The Committee finally recalls that, in its 2021 concluding observations, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) expressed concern about the stagnation of the adjusted gender wage gap and the vertical and horizontal segregation of the labour market and academia (CEDAW/C/DNK/CO/9, para. 32a). The Committee again asks the Government to provide up-to-date information on the evolution of the gender pay gap by economic sector and occupational group, and on any research conducted on its causes. It also requests the Government to indicate the specific measures taken or envisaged to effectively lower the gender pay gap, by combatting its structural and underline causes, such as vertical and horizontal occupational job segregation and gender stereotypes.

Article 2(1). Implementation of legislation. The Committee observes that the Government provides no information on the application in practice of the obligation of companies with at least 10 employees to prepare annually sex disaggregated statistics (Act No. 899 of 5 September 2008 on Equal Pay for Men and Women, as amended in 2014). However, it notes that Act No. 116 of 9 February 2016, as consolidated by Act No. 156 of 22 February 2019 on Equal Pay for Men and Women, limited again the obligation to prepare annually sex disaggregated statistics to companies with at least 35 employees, of which at least 10 employees of each gender with the same work functions. It also notes that, in its 2021 concluding observations, CEDAW expressed concern about the fact that only companies with at least 35 workers, of which at least 10 are men and 10 are women, must submit gender wage statistics, and recommended that the Government “improve gender wage gap statistics by ensuring that more employers and companies are subject to reporting obligations” (CEDAW/C/DNK/CO/9, para. 32a and 33a). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the impact of Act No. 116 of 9 February 2016 on the number of companies and employees covered by the obligation to prepare annually sex disaggregated statistics, and to communicate information on any measures taken or envisaged to reextend this obligation to companies with at least 10 employees, as previously provided under Act No. 513 of 26 May 2014. It also again asks the Government to:

• (i)clarify if the wage statistics allow a comparison of different jobs of equal value, including between the public and private sectors;
• (ii)provide information on the identification and elimination of any discriminatory pay differences, as well as on any cases brought before equal pay tribunals or the courts, on the basis of the wage statistics; and
• (iii)provide information on any follow-up actions taken to attain full compliance with the legal obligation to prepare sex disaggregated statistics on pay, including any sanctions imposed, as provided under section 6b of Consolidation Act No. 156 of 22 February 2019 on Equal Pay for Men and Women.

Article 3(1). Objective job evaluation. The Committee notes that the Government’s report still contains no information on the measures taken or envisaged in order to promote, in cooperation with social partners, the development and use of objective job evaluation methods. The Committee recalls that the concept of “work of equal value” is fundamental to tackling sex occupational segregation and requires some method of measuring and comparing the relative value of different jobs free from gender bias, on the basis of entirely objective and non-discriminatory criteria such as skills, effort, responsibilities and working conditions (see 2012 General Survey on the Fundamental Conventions, paragraphs 673, 695 and 701). It also notes that, in its 2021 concluding observations, CEDAW expressed concern about the lack of transparency of the methodology for the determination of what constitutes “work of equal value”, and recommended the Government to “revise the Equal Pay Law by defining the concept of ‘equal work of equal value’ in conformity with the Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100), of ILO” (CEDAW/C/DNK/CO/9, paragraphs 32a and 33a). The Committee trusts that in the near future the Government will ensure that Act No. 156 of 22 February 2019 on Equal Pay for Men and Women effectively allows the development and use of objective job evaluation methods, in accordance with Article 3(1) of the Convention. It once again asks the Government to provide information on the specific steps taken or envisaged, in cooperation with social partners, towards this direction, especially in order to determine appropriate techniques and criteria for objective job evaluation.

Article 4. Cooperation with workers’ and employers’ organizations. The Committee takes note of the five decisions mentioned in the Government’s report, issued by the Board of Equal Treatment between 2019 and 2021, one of which awarded compensation to a woman who had been denied a one-off supplement allocated to her colleagues due to her maternity leave. However, it observes that no information is provided on the functioning of the equal pay tribunal established by the social partners. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the decisions of the Board of Equal Treatment and the courts regarding the principle of equal remuneration. It also reiterates its request to the Government to provide information on the functioning of the equal pay tribunal established by the Confederation of Danish Industry (DI) and the Central Organization of Industrial Employees (CO-Industri), and on any further action taken by the social partners to create equal pay tribunals in other sectors of activity, including any obstacles encountered.

Other measures to address the gender pay gap. The Committee again asks the Government to provide information on:

• (i)any recent research conducted on the gender segregation of the labour market and its structural and underline causes, as well as any follow-up action given;
• (ii)the impact of the Act on Gender Equality, as recently consolidated by Act No. 751 of 26 April 2021, on achieving gender balance in boards and committees in the public and private sectors, including statistics on the number of women and men on the boards and committees covered by the legislation; and
• (iii) any other measures taken or envisaged with a view to narrowing the gender pay gap and addressing gender stereotypes influencing women’s and men’s choices about education and employment, and the impact of such measures.