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: Nousiainen, Kevat
• Pages: 21-30

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 equ al pay

Surveys on the gender pay gap and attempts to reduce it have been made for decades.

Both Statistics Finland and social partners conduct surveys on gender equality in the labour

market.

Women in Finland participate in the labour ma rket almost equally as men, and their level

of education is generally higher than that of men’s. Nevertheless, Statistics Finland reports

a high average gender pay gap, at present 16 %. This gap is broader than the EU average,

and it has only reduced slowly. The Finn ish labour market is hig hly gender segregated;

the private sector is p redominantly dominated by men, wh ile the public sector emplo ys

mainly women. Only one tenth of employees w ork in occupations that employ an equal

number of men and women,33 and men tend to dominate in high er positions.

Part-time work has slightly increased in Finland, and is more common for women than for

men. In 2018, 10 % of men and 21 % of women worked part tim e. Part-time working is

more common for young and older employees, which indicates that it is not primarily a

solution for combining work and family life. The latest statistics show that the number of

part-time working men increased from 2019 to 2020, while the number of part -time

working women declined.34 Fixed-term work increased d uring the economic depression in

the 1990s and has since remained common, especially for women; in 2018, 13 % of men

and 19 % of women were employed on fixed-term contracts. Such jobs are more common

in the public th an the private sector, where new employment contracts tend to be fi xed-

term – new contracts were fixed-term in 59 % of cases for women and in 49 % for men.35

The latest statistics show an increase (1.3 %) in the pe rcentage of fixed-term

employment, but the statistics are not gender-specific.36

4.1.2 Surveys on the difficulties of realising equal treatment at work

Tripartite (Government and social partners) equal pay programmes have been running

since 2006. The most recent programme (2016-2019), as well as those that p receded it,

have involved cooperation with the social partners; mainly central organisations of

employers and employees. The programme aims to reduce the gender pay gap by various

means, and operates o n the assumption that the gendered segregation of the labour

market is the main reason for the gap. The latest programme named the need to educate

experts on labour and economic affair s administration and to include a gender dim ension

in immigrant and refugee service s as a m eans to reduce the gap. 37 The tripartite Equal

Pay Programme included actions for social part ners, such as to promote gender impact

assessments of collective agreements, and to i ncrease the use of pay systems based on

demands of the work and assessment of personal input. Significant emphasis is placed on

reducing gender segregation in the lab our market through educational me asures. The

Programme also refers to the need to increase fathers’ use of family-related leave.

However, an evaluation of th e Programme indicated that the results have been meagre,

and that any new tripartite pr ogramme in the fu ture should find new approaches to the

33 Statistics Finland 2915.

34 http://tilastokeskus.fi/til/tyti/2020/01/tyti_2020_01_2020-02-25_tau_010_fi.html.

35 Kauhanen, Merja Sukupuolten väliset erot työpaikkojen laadussa – onko työsuhteen tyypillä väliä? (Gender

differences in the quality of working places – does the type of the working contract matter? in Pietikäinen,

Marjut (ed.) Työ, talous ja tasa-arvo (Work, Economy and Equality) Statistics Finland, 2013, 49-63.

36 http://tilastokeskus.fi/til/tyti/2020/01/tyti_2020_01_2020-02-25_tau_013_fi.html.

37 Hallituksen tasa-arvo-ohjelma (Government’s Equality Programme) 2016-2019, p. 9-10,

http://julkaisut.valtioneuvosto.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/75238/04_2016_STM_Tasa-arvo-ohjelma_2016-

2019_fi_sv_B5_netti.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.