On June 11, 2021, the Council of the European Union held further discussions on the procedure of the draft Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on strengthening the application of the principle of equal pay for women and men for the same work or work of equal value through pay transparency mechanisms and mechanisms enforcement (COM 202 193 final, 2021/0050 COD, hereinafter: Directive). The directive would apply to employers in both the public and private sectors.
According to EU legislators, women and men performing the same job still do not receive the same remuneration. According to the results of surveys carried out by Eurostat, this difference is even more than 14%. Arguments are raised that such a drastic pay gap has a negative impact on women’s quality of life. It is true that lower earnings affect not only life (and its quality) while receiving the salary, but also after its completion – after all, the amount of the pension depends on the amount of previously paid contributions, which in turn depends on the earnings.
Despite the introduction of the already binding directive of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2006 on equal treatment of women and men in matters of employment and occupation, the EU countries still notice a disproportion in earnings. The purpose of the new directive is to establish wage transparency within business units. For this it is necessary to establish a uniform definition of „pay” and „work of equal value”. According to the EU legislator, the introduction of such provisions will result in greater respect for the law and will facilitate the possibility of enforcement of the law by the EU countries.