Sir, – I read in your newspaper (“Great Place to Work survey 2019 reveals few surprises but offers hope”, News, February 28th) that only 46 per cent of the respondents indicated that their organisations are aware of the gender pay gap, with only one-third of those organisations believing that incoming rules on salary transparency are fair.
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (Gender Pay Gap Information) Bill, first introduced almost two years ago in May 2017, was only passed by the Seanad on October 2018.
According to the Oireachtas website, the Bill still has to navigate four legislative stages before it is enshrined in law.
The Bill does not compel businesses to pay women the same wage as men for performing the exact same role, when the gender pay gap in Ireland is currently at 14 per cent .
By contrast, Iceland has had equal pay laws in place since 1961. In January 2018, the government of Iceland passed the equal pay standard, criminalising gender-based pay inequality. In effect, any public or private body in Iceland employing more than 25 people that has not been independently certified as paying equal wages for work of equal value will face daily fines.
Iceland is the top-ranked country for gender equality, according to the World Economic Forum, a position it has held for the past nine years.
Given that circa 66 per cent of businesses surveyed oppose gender pay gap transparency, with 54 per cent unaware of the issue entirely, it is time that Ireland followed Iceland’s example.
This is a basic human right, and anything less is purely evading the issue. – Yours, etc,
ALLAN SWEENEY,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 14.