Equal pay and equal treatment at work (Article 157 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and Recast Directive 2006/54)

AuthorNicole Kerschen
Pages21-25
21
4 Equal pay and equal treatment at work (Article 157 of the Treaty on the
Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and Recast D irective 2006/54)
4.1 General (legal) context
4.1.1 Surveys on the gender pay gap and the difficulties of realising equal pay
On the International Women’s Day 2018 , Eurostat published figures on the gender pay
gap in the EU Member Stat es. Luxembourg performed very well. It was cla ssified third of
the EU Member States with an average wage difference of 5.5 % between women and
men. From 2011 to 2016, Luxembourg reduced its pay gap by 2.4 points.
4.1.2 Surveys on the difficulties of realising equal treatment at work
There are no surveys on the difficulties in realising equal treatment at work.
4.1.3 Other issues
There are no other issues to be reported.
4.1.4 Political and societal debate and pending legislative proposals
The governmental programme 2018-2023, which declared gender equality as a transversal
political priority for all Ministries and Administrations, raised the following issues regarding
pay gap:
Necessary means will be put into place in order to terminate, as far as possible, the
pay gap between women and men, which remains up to 5.4 % in the private sector.
Equal pay by law shou ld lead to de facto wage equality in the labour market in
accordance with the provisions set out in the Labour Code. In this context, it is
particularly important to reinforce the means of the control of the Labour and Mines
Inspectorate (ITM).58
ITM’s daily mission is to supe rvise the implementation of le gislation by companies and to
advise employers and employees in the domain of working conditions.
In response to the consultation organised by MEGA for the prepa ration of the Gender
Equality Plan 2019-2022, the Chamber of Employees (CSL) cited the lack of wage
transparency in the private sect or as a barrier to promoting equal pay (CSL 2019, first
opinion) (see below for details).
4.2 Equal pay
4.2.1 Implementation in national law
Equal pay for women and men for the sam e work, or for wo rk to which an equal value is
attributed, was introduced by the Grand-Ducal Regulation of 10 July 1974 on equal pay
between m en and wom en.59 Si nce then, provisions appearing in collective agreements,
wage scales, wage agreements or individual work contracts, which were contrary to the
principle of equal pay, were declared null and void. The highest remuneration was
automatically substituted, when pay was not equal.
58 Accord de coalition 2018-2023 (‘Coalition Agreement 2018-2023’) especially point 20, pages 113. Website:
https://gouvernement.lu/dam-assets/documents/actualites/2018/12-decembre/Accord-de-coalition-2018-
2023.pdf.
59 Memorial A No. 56 of 22 July 1974, p. 1275. Website: http://data.legilux.public.lu/file/eli-etat-leg-
memorial-1974-56-fr-pdf.pdf.

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT