The Pay Transparency Directive: The role of hypothetical comparators in determining equal pay for work of equal value
European Trade Union Institute, Brussels
ETUI - Brussels
2023
8 p.
equal pay ; EU Directive ; gender equality ; trade union ; collective bargaining
ETUI Policy Brief. European Economic, Employment and Social Policy
2023.06
Wages and wage payment systems
English
Bibliogr.
2031-8782
"Key points:
• Collective bargaining has a critical role to play in closing and tackling the structural causes of the gender pay gap.
• The Pay Transparency Directive contains new possibilities for trade unions and employers to use hypothetical comparisons in addressing the undervaluing of jobs predominantly carried out by women where there are no actual comparator, and to include this in collective bargaining.
• Trade unions should ensure that hypothetical comparators are used to show that if a man was employed in a job of equal value in the same workplace, the jobs carried out by women would still be lower paid, unblocking a significant obstacle to women's pay.
• The longer-term challenge is for trade unions to facilitate cross-sectoral comparisons in their collective bargaining claims for equal pay for work of equal value.
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