Parliament wants commission to draft equal pay legislation
18.11.08 @ 17:38
MEPs have overwhelmingly called on the European Commission to ensure that women are paid as much as men at work.
Jobs often associated with women frequently come with lower wages than those associated with men (Photo: wikipedia)
They complain that the existing legislation - now in place for some 30 years - is well out of date, and want the EU to ensure employers stop discriminating - possibly under the threat of fines.
The European Parliament on Tuesday (17 November) adopted a report 590 votes to 23 against requesting the EU's executive draft a legislative proposal revising the current law on equal pay.
Currently, women in Europe earn some 15 percent less than men on average across all sectors, and up to 25 percent less when they are not working in the public sector, and varying between four and 25 percent among the member states,
The report was adopted under a special procedure in which the parliament, having obtained an absolute majority, can call on the commission to bring forward a legislative proposal.
The MEPs have requested the commission submit to parliament proposals for revision of the existing legislation by the end of 2009.
The deputies want to see the introduction of obligatory and regular audits of how men and women are paid in a company, and the publication of the results.
Additionally, the parliament wants job evaluations to not be discriminatory between men and women.
They aim to conduct a study on the possibility of fines for employers and possibly disqualification from benefits or subsidies for those workplaces with poor scores on pay equality.
Most of the MEPs to vote against the report were UK Conservatives and members of the French far right party, the Front National. A total of 46 MEPs abstained.
