Plenary summary: Pay transparency directive of equal pay for equal work
Brussels, 31/03/2023
During its March II plenary session, the European Parliament Plenary debated and voted on a file that relates to the human rights of LGBTI persons:
- 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 – Committees on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) and Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM).
- (Note: For a complete list of all texts (and specific paragraphs) in this legislature touching upon LGBTI issues, check our List of resources available here.)
Strengthening 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
On Thursday, Members of the European Parliament debated the report 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 (rapporteurs: Kira Marie Peter‑Hansen (Greens-EFA) and Samira Rafaela (Renew)). The report was adopted on Thursday.
This Directive lays down minimum requirements to strengthen the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women (the ‘principle of equal pay’) enshrined in Article 157 TFEU and the prohibition of discrimination laid down in Article 4 of Directive 2006/54/EC, in particular through pay transparency and reinforced enforcement mechanisms.
On LGBTIQ issues, it mentioned:
- (5) The Court of Justice of the European Union (the ‘Court of Justice’) has held that the scope of the principle of equal treatment of men and women cannot be confined to discrimination based on the fact that a person is of one or other sex. In view of its purpose and the nature of the rights which it seeks to safeguard, that principle also applies to discrimination arising from gender reassignment.
- (6) In some Member States, it is currently possible for persons to legally register as having a third, often a neutral, gender. This Directive does not affect relevant national rules giving effect to such recognition as regards matters of employment and pay.
- (25) Article 10 TFEU provides that, in defining and implementing its policies and activities, the Union is to aim to combat discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation. Article 4 of Directive 2006/54/EC provides that there is to be no direct or indirect discrimination on grounds of sex in relation to pay. Gender-based pay discrimination where a victim’s sex plays a crucial role can take many different forms in practice. It may involve an intersection of various axes of discrimination or inequality where the worker is a member of one or several groups protected against discrimination on the basis of sex, on the one hand, and racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, as protected under Council Directives 2000/43/EC7 or 2000/78/EC8, on the other.
- 4.4 Pay structures shall be such as to enable the assessment of whether workers are in a comparable situation in regard to the value of work on the basis of objective, gender-neutral criteria agreed with workers’ representatives where such representatives exist. Those criteria shall not be based directly or indirectly on workers’ sex. (…) They shall be applied in an objective gender-neutral manner, excluding any direct or indirect discrimination based on sex (…).
Watch the plenary debate here.
