Equal pay for equal work
Equal pay for equal work is the concept of labour rights that individuals in the same workplace be given equal pay. It is most commonly used in the context of sexual discrimination, in relation to the gender pay gap. Equal pay relates to the full range of payments and benefits, including basic pay, non-salary payments, bonuses and allowances. Some countries have moved faster than others in addressing equal pay.
Early history
As wage labor became increasingly formalized during the Industrial Revolution, women were often paid less than their male counterparts for the same labor, whether for the explicit reason that they were women or under another pretext. The principle of equal pay for equal work arose at the same part of first-wave feminism, with early efforts for equal pay being associated with nineteenth-century Trade Union activism in industrialized countries: for example, a series of strikes by unionized women in the UK in the 1830s. Pressure from Trade Unions has had varied effects, with trade unions sometimes promoting conservatism. Carrie Ashton Johnson was an American suffragist who related equal pay and wages of women in the industrial workforce to the issue of women's suffrage. In 1895, she was quoted by the Chicago Tribune as having said, "When women are given the ballot, there will be equal pay for equal work."Before woman's suffrage, women who sought equal pay for equal work used a variety of strategies to convince city and state governments that they deserved the same pay as their male counterparts. For example, the women in the New York City Interborough Association of Women Teachers won their campaign in 1911 by streamlining their goals and emphasizing women's important role in the schoolroom.
Following the Second World War, trade unions and the legislatures of industrialized countries gradually embraced the principle of equal pay for equal work; one example of this process is the UK's introduction of the Equal Pay Act 1970 in response both to the Treaty of Rome and the Ford sewing machinists strike of 1968. In recent years European trade unions have generally exerted pressure on states and employers to progress in this direction.
International human rights law
In international human rights law, the statement on equal pay is the 1951 Equal Remuneration Convention, Convention 100 of the International Labour Organization, a United Nations body. The Convention states thatEqual pay for equal work is also covered by Article 7 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Article 4 of the European Social Charter, and Article 15 of African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. The Constitution of the International Labour Organization also proclaims "the principles of equal remuneration for equal value".
The EEOC's four affirmative defenses allows unequal pay for equal work when the wages are set "pursuant to a seniority system; a merit system; a system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production; or ... any other factor other than sex." A pay differential due to one of these factors is not in breach of the convention.
Legal situation by jurisdiction
European Union/European Economic Area
Post-war Europe has seen a fairly consistent pattern in women's participation in the labour market and legislation to promote equal pay for equal work across Eastern and Western countries.Some countries now in the EU, including France, Germany, and Poland, had already enshrined the principle of equal pay for equal work in their constitutions before the foundation of the EU. When the European Economic Community, later the European Union, was founded in 1957, the principle of equal pay for equal work was named as a key principle. Article 141 of the Treaty of Rome says "each Member State shall ensure that the principle of equal pay for male and female workers for equal work or work of equal value is applied." While socially progressive, this decision does not necessarily indicate widespread progressive attitudes among the signatories to the treaty:
The EEC's legislation was clarified in 1975 by the binding and directly applicable equal pay directive 75/117/EEC. This prohibited all discrimination on the grounds of sex in relation to pay; this and other directives were integrated into a single Directive in 2006.
At the national level the principle of equal pay is in general fully reflected in the legislation of the 28 EU member states and the additional countries of the European Economic Area, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The EU candidate countries of Macedonia and Turkey also adapted their legislation to EU standards. The main national legislation concerning pay equity between men and women for different European countries is as follows.
| Country | Main legal provisions |
| Austria | The 1979 Act on Equal Treatment on Men and Women |
| Belgium | The 1999 Law on Equal Treatment for Men and Women and the Royal Decree of 9 December 1975 |
| Bulgaria | Equal pay for equal work included in the labour code |
| Czech Republic | Remuneration for work is regulated by Act no. 262/2006 Coll., the labour code, and by Act no. 234/2014 Coll., Civil Service Act. |
| Denmark | The 1976 Act on Equal Pay for Men and Women, as amended since to include additional points |
| Finland | The 1995 Constitution and the Act on Equality between Men and Women |
| France | The 1946 Constitution and Articles L.140.2 and thereafter of the Labour Code |
| Germany | The 1949 Constitution or "Basic Law" |
| Greece | The 1975 Constitution, as amended in 2001, and Law 1484/1984 |
| Hungary | Equal pay for equal work was previously included in the constitution, but it has changed; there is now only equality between men and women, and the pay is in the Labour Code. |
| Iceland | The 1961 Equal pay act, 1976 Law for Equality between women and men, 2008 Act on Equal Status and Equal Rights of Women and Men and the amendment added to the law in 2017: Law on equal pay certification according to the Equal Pay Standard introduced in 2012 |
| Ireland | The 1998 Employment Equality Act, repealing the 1974 Anti-Discrimination Act and the 1977 Employment Equality Act |
| Israel | The 1998 Law for Option Equality at Work and the 1996 Law for Equal Pay for Female Worker and Male Worker |
| Italy | The Constitution, Law 903/1977, and Law 125/1991 |
| Latvia | Equal pay for equal work included in the labour code |
| Liechtenstein | Equal pay for equal work included in the civil code |
| Lithuania | Equal pay for equal work included in the labour code |
| Luxembourg | The 1981 law relating to equal treatment between men and women and the 1974 Grand-Ducal Regulation of relating to equal pay for men and women, 3 |
| Malta | The Constitution and the Equality for Men and Women Act |
| Netherlands | The Constitution and the 1994 Law on Equal Treatment |
| Norway | The 1978 Act on Gender Equality |
| Poland | The 1997 Constitution, Chapter II, Article 33.2 enshrined the equal pay for equal work principle, already included in the 1952 Constitution. |
| Portugal | The Constitution and Law 105/1997 relating to equal treatment at work and in employment |
| Romania | Equal pay for equal work included in the constitution |
| Slovakia | Equal pay for equal work included in the constitution |
| Spain | The Constitution and the Workers' Statute. |
| Sweden | The 1980 Act on Equality between Men and Women/Equal Opportunities Act, as amended since |
| UK | The Equal Pay Act 1970, as amended by Equal Value Regulations of 1983, and the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975 and 1986, superseded by the Equality Act 2010 |
2018 Update
Law on Equal Pay Certification based on the Equal Pay Standard in Iceland
Iceland introduced an Equal Pay Standard in 2012, ÍST 85:2012. The standard was developed by the Icelandic trade unions, the employers' confederation and government officials with the goal in mind that it would help employers prevent salary discrimination and enable them to become certified.
In 2017, the Icelandic government decided to add an amendment to the 2008 laws Act on Equal Status and Equal Rights of Women and Men. The amendment is a law on equal pay certification and was put into effect on January 1, 2018. According to the amendment companies and institutions employing 25 or more workers, on annual basis, will be required to obtain equal pay certification of their equal pay system and the implementation thereof. The purpose of this obligatory certification is to enforce the current legislation prohibiting discriminatory practices based on gender and requiring that women and men working for the same employer shall be paid equal wages and enjoy equal terms of employment for the same jobs or jobs of equal value.
United States
Federal law: Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
By the 20th century, women made up about a quarter of United States workforce but were still paid far less than men, whether it was the same job or a different job. There were different laws for women in some states such as, not working at night and restriction of their working hours. Women started entering more factory jobs when World War II began to replace men who were enlisted in the military. The wage gap continued to escalate during the war. The National War Labor Board put policies in place to help provide equal pay for women who were directly replacing men.The first attempt at equal pay legislation in the United States, H.R. 5056, "Prohibiting Discrimination in Pay on Account of Sex", was introduced by Congresswoman Winifred C. Stanley of Buffalo, New York, on June 19, 1944. Twenty years later, legislation passed by the federal government in 1963 made it illegal to pay men and women different wage rates for equal work on jobs that require equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and are performed under similar working conditions. One year after passing the Equal Pay Act, Congress passed the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Title VII of this act makes it unlawful to discriminate based on a person's race, religion, color, or sex. Title VII attacks sex discrimination more broadly than the Equal Pay Act extending not only to wages but to compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment. Thus with the Equal Pay Act and Title VII, an employer cannot deny women equal pay for equal work; deny women transfers, promotions, or wage increases; manipulate job evaluations to relegate women's pay; or intentionally segregate men and women into jobs according to their gender.
Since Congress was debating this bill at the same time that the Equal Pay Act was coming into effect, there was concern over how these two laws would interact, which led to the passage of Senator Bennett's Amendment. This Amendment states: "It Shall not be unlawful employment practice under this subchapter for any employer to differentiate upon the basis of sex... if such differentiation is authorized by the provisions of the ." There was confusion on the interpretation of this Amendment, which was left to the courts to resolve.
Thus US federal law now states that "employers may not pay unequal wages to men and women who perform jobs that require substantially equal skill, effort and responsibility, and that are performed under similar working conditions within the same establishment."