Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

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

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that the next report will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous comments.

Repetition

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Gender pay gap. The Committee previously noted the adoption of the Plan of Action on Gender Equality regarding Wages (2012–16), the development of the Equal Pay Standard IST 85:2012 and a certification system on equal pay. It also noted that Act No. 10/2008 on equal status and equal rights of women and men was 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 Committee asked the Government to provide information on the impact of such measures on addressing the causes of the gender pay gap. In its report, the Government states that, despite the constant increase in women’s participation in the labour market, a high degree of gender division between occupations remains as a result of horizontal and vertical occupational segregation. Moreover, a survey of the labour market by Statistics Iceland in the fourth quarter of 2017 showed gendered differences in working time patterns: the average number of full working hours per week was 38.9, with 34.7 hours for women and 42.5 for men; for those in full employment, the average was 44.3 hours, with 40.9 for women and 46.5 for men; for those in part-time work, the average was 23.1 hours, with 23.6 hours for women and 22 hours for men. More women than men are in part-time employment, as shown in 2017, when a third of women in the labour market were in part-time jobs, compared with 13.5 per cent of men. The Government also indicates that an Action Group on Equal Pay was appointed in December 2012 by the Government and workers’ and employers’ organizations to work on gender equality in wages, including the supervision of the adoption of the Equal Pay Standard IST 85:2012. In May 2015 and March 2018, the Action Group unveiled the findings of three studies. One was the first study of the gender pay gap covering the entire labour market from 2008 to 2016, and another was an extensive report on the standing of women and men in the labour market. The third was a study of the gender divide on the labour market by Statistics Iceland covering the period 2008–13. It drew on a large database (70,000 workers in each of the years) covering wages and various issues relating to the position of workers. By using the whole dataset, the estimates can be differentiated into explained and unexplained parts. The unexplained part of the pay difference was estimated to be 4.8 per cent for the years 2008–16, while the explained part was 7.4 per cent. According to the Government, if the whole period is broken into three-year periods, the unexplained part of the gender pay gap has decreased from 4.8 per cent in the years 2008–10 to 3.6 per cent in the years 2014–16.

With regard to the Equal Pay Systems Standard IST 85:2012, the Government indicates that it has been managed by specialists in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs reporting to the Action Group on Equal Pay. At the beginning, some 11 government offices, seven private companies and two municipalities (Reykjavík and Hafnarfjörður) signed up for the pilot project. Those that have not yet finished implementation will still continue the work and hopefully receive certification next year. During the pilot project, there was much knowledge sharing on how best to implement the Standard and tackle common problems. A toolbox was developed to assist employers in the implementation of the Standard. This toolbox consists of checklists, an Excel spreadsheet model for job classification (in order to classify jobs in a gender-neutral way) and guidelines for implementation. A website has been set up to make these checklists easily accessible. Finally, a series of workshops and courses have been developed for those who are interested in the Standard or are in the process of implementing it. The certification requires companies with more than 25 employees to not only offer equal pay across the same job level, but also equal pay for work of the same value. The Equal Pay Standard, on which the certification requirements are based, does this by assessing a company’s pay policies, classification of jobs according to equal value and wage analysis based on job classification, as well as formalizing policies and processes related to pay decisions. The Centre for Gender Equality grants workplaces that have acquired certification based on audits performed by accredited auditors the right to use a special equal pay symbol. Where a workplace either has not acquired equal pay certification or has failed to renew it by the deadline, the social partners can report it to the Centre for Gender Equality, which can impose a formal demand to rectify the situation. Rectification measures can involve, for example, the provision of information and the release of materials or the drawing up of a scheduled plan of action on how the workplace intends to meet the requirements of the Equal Pay Standard. If the workplace fails to act on instructions of this type, the Centre for Gender Equality is authorized to impose per diem fines. The Government adds that a draft of a new national action plan for gender equality for the years 2019–23 has been prepared. It foresees the launch of a special campaign to promote and ensure wide implementation of the Equal Pay Management Standard and its certification among Icelandic businesses and institutions. This cooperation will involve sending instructions to all the relevant state institutions, municipalities and businesses to implement the standard and seek certification. The Committee encourages the Government to continue taking measures to develop various tools and systems to address and monitor the application of Act No. 10/2008 on Equal Status and Equal Rights of Women and Men, as well as the Plan of Action on Gender Equality regarding Wages (2012–16). The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the results achieved in terms of addressing the gender pay gap following the development of Equal Pay Standard IST 85:2012 and a certification system on equal pay.

Work of equal value and scope of comparison. The Committee previously noted that, while several amendments had been 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 had been made to the limitation of the comparison 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. Noting that the report is silent on this point, the Committee once again recalls that, not only this Convention, but also European Directive 2006/54/EC provides that the principle of equal pay is not limited to situations in which men and women work for the same employer and it asks the Government to provide a plan for ensuring that the principle of the Convention is applied beyond the same employer, particularly in sectors and enterprises predominantly employing women.

Article 3. Objective job evaluation. The Committee notes that the Government’s report again fails to contain information on the use (or studies) 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 Government indicates that 20 cases were referred to the Gender Equality Complaints Committee between 2015 and 2018, but none concerned the application of the principle of equality of remuneration for men and women. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on any decisions or rulings relating to the issue of equal remuneration by the courts or the Gender Equality Complaints Committee pursuant to Act No. 10/2008.