Directive (EU) 2023/970 to strengthen the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women through pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms

Ce que fait l'acte

to establish minimum requirements to strengthen the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women through pay transparency and enforcement mechanism. PURPOSE: to set up a European Partnership on Metrology jointly undertaken by several Member States. PROPOSED ACT: Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council. ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council. The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality jointly adopted a report by Kira Marie PETER-HANSEN (Greens/EFA, DK) and Samira RAFAELA (Renew Europe, NL) on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council to strengthen the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women through pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms. The principle of equal pay is laid down in Article 157 TFEU. However, across the European Union, the gender pay gap persists and stands at around 14%, with significant variations among member states; it has decreased only minimally over the last ten years. Moreover, the economic and social consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic are having a disproportionate impact on women and gender equality, and job losses have been concentrated in low-paid, female-dominated sectors. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic will therefore further widen gender inequalities and the gender pay gap unless the recovery response is gender sensitive. Those consequences have made it even more pressing to tackle the issue of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value. The committee recommended that the European Parliament’s position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the Commission's proposal as follows: The amended text proposed that Member States should, in cooperation with the social partners, take the necessary measures, after consulting the equality bodies, to ensure that employers have pay structures in place ensuring equal pay for equal work or work of equal value, without discrimination based on grounds of sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression or sex characteristics. Employers should ensure that vacancy notices, job titles and recruitment processes are gender neutral and that the information is provided in a manner accessible to workers with disabilities, upon request, in accordance with harmonised legal acts of the Union on accessibility. The amended text called for workers and their workers’ representatives to have the right to receive clear and complete information on their individual pay level and the average pay levels, broken down by gender , for categories of workers performing the same work as them or work of equal value to theirs, as well as the gender pay gap and median gender pay gap between of workers employed by the same employer, but not more frequently than twice a year and provided that that information has not already been communicated to them through their workers' representatives. Workers should…