What is Europe doing to promote gender equality at work?

On March 8, to mark International Women's Rights Day, the EU executive presented a "roadmap" to promote gender equality in the workplace, which left some people wanting more. Seven "long-term policy objectives" are proclaimed, including three in the field of labour:

But action will have to wait, regrets Mélissa Camara, a French Green MEP: "Faced with repeated attacks on women's rights (...), the Commission had a major opportunity to reaffirm its commitment to equality. In spite of a communication that claims to represent progress, concrete commitments are far less present", points out this elected representative, coordinator of the Greens/EFA group on women's rights issues.

Limited ambition

For possible future legislative initiatives, the new Commission refers to a "post-2025 gender equality strategy", due to be presented later this year. In a less than encouraging sign, at the start of its term of office, the executive tends to hide behind its limited competences in the social sphere: "The full realisation of the aspirations set out in this Roadmap goes beyond the competences of the EU and must rely on actions at national level", reads the document. The problem is real, as debates on the limits of the Union's competence in matters of minimum pay raged during the adoption of the directive on minimum wages in 2022.

Will competitiveness and bureaucratic simplification for businesses, the Union's two top economic priorities, dissuade the Commission from proposing more binding rules in favour of gender equality in the workplace? Possibly. In its roadmap, the institution strives to demonstrate that "promoting women's rights is not only a moral imperative, but also a strategic investment in the EU's economic growth and competitiveness".

"Projections show that improving gender equality could increase the EU's GDP per capita by between 6.1% and 9.6% by 2050, i.e. an impressive 1.95 to 3.15 trillion euros thanks in particular to higher levels of employment," says the document. It also points out, with figures to back it up, that "companies post higher profits and better stock market performance when women are in management positions".

So it's hard to read Brussels' intentions at this stage. In the past, and particularly during its previous mandate (2019-2024), the European Commission has sought to make the most of EU competences to push the law towards greater equality in the world of work.

The effects of several major pieces of legislation recently adopted by the Union's co-legislators will only be felt in the coming months. Such is the case of the directive of May 10, 2023,which should help women to claim the same emoluments as their male counterparts, by forcing companies to be extremely transparent about their pay policies.

"A small revolution

According to the latest Insee figures published on Tuesday March 18, in 2023, men earn on average 22.2% more than women. For equal working hours, the figure is still 14.2%. This inequality also penalises women's pensions, which are 30% lower than men's, according to 2018 figures.

The directive, which must be transposed into national law by June 7, 2026 at the latest, constitutes "a small revolution", according to Les Echos. In order to better arm the under-represented sex during initial recruitment negotiations, the text provides for, among other things article 5 that "job applicants have the right to receive, from the potential employer, information on the initial pay or pay range, based on objective, non-sexist criteria, corresponding to the position concerned (...)". Or, to ensure that past inequalities are not perpetuated, (...) employers will be prohibited from asking applicants "about their pay history during current or previous employment relationships".

Within the company, the directive, article 7 makes pay transparency a permanent "right to information" for employees: they will be able to obtain information directly or through their workers' representatives, and receive in writing "the average levels of pay, broken down by sex, for categories of workers doing the same work as them or work of the same value as theirs".

And that's not all: companies with more than 100 employees will be subject to more onerous obligations. First of all, they must communicate the pay gap between male and female workers to a number of recipients: not only employees and their representatives, but also a competent national authority, as well as, on request, the labour inspectorate and the equality body (in France, the Défenseur des droits).

Why? When the data provided reveals a difference in average pay levels of at least 5%, employers will be required to carry out a joint assessment of pay with employee representatives. This assessment must be carried out in order to "identify, correct and prevent" differences in pay between male and female workers, says article 10.

A reversal of the burden of proof

This text is not limited to transparency: it also seeks to facilitate access to justice in the event of discrimination. The directive establishes a right to compensation (article 16) for any worker who has suffered damage as a result of a violation of the principle of equal pay, with a reversal of the burden of proof (article 18). "In effect, it will be up to the defendant, as soon as there are facts giving rise to a presumption of the existence of direct or indirect discrimination, to prove that there has been no discrimination in terms of pay", summarised Bercy's Legal Affairs Department in a press release published in June 2023, just after the bill's final adoption. This mechanism is reminiscent of what was initiated, with encouraging results, by the 1976 directive on equal treatment for men and women at work.

"The imposing set of procedural provisions constitutes a considerable, unprecedented reduction in the autonomy of States in this field", writes Sophie Robin-Olivier, professor at the Sorbonne Law School and specialist in international and European social law, in an article published on "Le Club de Juristes".

Legislation that promises to advance equality in the workplace also includes the directive of November 23, 2022 on the place of women on the boards of directors of large corporations and listed companies. This so-called "Women on boards" directive requires that by the end of June 2026 at least 40% of non-executive directorships be held by women, and at least 33% of all directorships.

In France, one of the most advanced countries in the world on this subject, thanks to the "Copé-Zimmermann" law of 2011, the transposition of the directive via the ordinance of October 15, 2024 has modified the law on the margins. In the rest of the EU, on the other hand, where figures vary widely depending on whether or not quotas had previously been in place, this directive, which had been stuck in the limbo of the Council of the EU for 10 years before finally being adopted, could constitute a minor revolution. It's not certain, however, that new legislation of this type will emanate from Brussels any time soon.

This document is auto translated by Deepl.