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)

• Author: Vesna Simovic-Zvicer
• Pages: 29-37

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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

According to the survey conducted by the Montenegrin Employers Federation, t he

difference in earnings between men and women is 13.9 %, which means that women earn

only 86.1 % of the average salary paid to men for the same work and work of equal

value.53

According to the Plan of activities for achieving gender equality in Montenegro 2017-2021,

the causes of gender pay gap include:

1) direct discrimination;

2) indirect discrimination;

3) lower evaluation of women's work;

4) segregation in the labour market;

5) tradition and stereotypes;

6) increased need for women to balance work and private life, which is probably related

to taking additional responsibilities as ca re providers ( not only to child ren but also

the elderly and disabled members of the household).

One of the result s of the gender wage gap, in accordance with the fa ct that women earn

less when they are employed, is t hat women have lower p ensions, which consequently

increases the risk of poverty.

4.1.2 Surveys on the difficulties of realising equal treatment at work

Full-time equivalent employment rates in Montenegro are 37.3 % for women and 50.5 %

for men. This means that there is a gender difference of 13.2 percentage points. The

indicator of the average length of working life for women in Montenegro in 2017 was 27.9.

This means that, on average, a woman who is 15 years old today is expected to be active

in the labour market for the n ext 27.9 years, while the expectancy f or a man i s longer –

34.4 years. The difference could be explained by the fact that women find it harder to get

a job or that motherhood is often the reason for termination of employment (especially in

the case of fixed-term contracts).54

According to the Ombudsman survey conducted in Nov ember 2018 as part of th e project

‘Truths and Misconceptions of Discrimination’, citizens perceive that discrimination against

women is still highly pronounced (22.7 %). Oth er groups at a high risk of discrimination

are: persons with disabilities; workers wh o have an employment contract with a private

employer; Roma; and those living in underdeveloped and rural areas. When it comes to

trust in protection against discrimination, men (22.3 %) have more trust in the state than

women (16.4 %), which confirms women’s mistrust of public authorities in situations when

they have suffered discrimination or were potential victims of unequal t reatment.55

According to a survey by the Montenegrin Employers Federation,56 the average number of

employees in the companies survey ed is 172, of which 40.96 % ar e women. It should be

53 Montenegrin Employers Federation (2017) ‘Više žena u menadzmentu – ključ uspješnog poslovanja’, p. 13,

available at: http://www.poslodavci.org/biblioteka/publikacije/vise-zena-u-menadzmentu-kljuc-uspjesnog-

poslovanja.

54 Olivera Komar, Gender Equality Index, Montenegro, 2019, p. 16.

55 Ombudsman (2019) Report for 2018, p. 181.

56 Montenegrin Employers Federation (2017) Women in Management in Montenegro, Podgorica, p. 36,

available at: http://poslodavci.org/aktivnosti/projekti/zene-u-menadzmentu-u-crnoj-gori-podrska-liderstvu-

i-profesionalnom-razvoju-zena-u-crnoj-gori/.