Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Germany (Ratification: 1956)

Assessment of the gender pay gap. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the unadjusted wage differential between men and women was 22 per cent in 2012. The Committee also notes the statistics provided by the Government indicating that in 2010 the average unadjusted gross hourly wage was highest in self-employed service activities, scientific and technical services (34 per cent) and financial and insurance services (30 per cent). It was also between 25 and 28 per cent in a number of other sectors, including health care and social services and manufacturing. The occupational groups with the highest unadjusted pay gap included management and technicians and non-technical occupations of equal rank (30 per cent), and graduate professionals (28 per cent). The Committee notes further the Government’s indication that it considers that tackling the structural causes of the gender pay gap should be tackled as a matter of priority, including women’s low representation in certain occupations, sectors and at higher levels, as well as those structural causes due to family responsibilities, and the failure of individual and collective negotiations to make a substantial contribution to the undervaluation of work typically done by women. With regard to measures taken to reduce horizontal occupational segregation, the Government has instituted both Girls’ Day and Boys’ Day, during which young women and men are provided with information on employment opportunities in sectors where they are underrepresented. Regarding vertical segregation, the Government has promoted women’s access to senior management positions, and the Committee refers to its comments under the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), in this regard. In addition it has adopted policies with a view to improving the reconciliation of work and family responsibilities for men and women by promoting paternity leave, providing greater access to childcare facilities, and supporting women’s re-entry into the workplace following career breaks for family reasons. The Government draws attention to its parental benefits policy, which allows parents to care for their children during the first year of life by replacing 65–67 per cent of the stay-at-home parent’s average net income in the year preceding the child’s birth. The Committee notes that the proportion of fathers who claimed parental benefits rose from 3.5 per cent to 27.3 per cent between 2006 and 2011. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on measures taken to address the structural causes of the gender pay gap, and the impact of such measures. The Committee also requests the Government to continue to provide up to date statistical data on remuneration levels by sector and occupational group, disaggregated by sex.

Article 2 of the Convention. Public service. The Government indicates that the objectives of non-discrimination and equal pay for men and women have been implemented through the collective agreement for the public service, which includes a litigation agreement that there shall be no wage discrimination. The Government states that the principle of non-discrimination is also being included in the new wage provisions for the public service, which are the subject of ongoing negotiations. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that longer career breaks and reduced working hours tend to have a negative impact on earnings prospects. In this regard, the Government reports that the law amending civil service labour regulations of 2009 provides that pregnancy, maternity and parental leave may not have an adverse effect on hiring and career advancement. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the steps taken to address the gender pay gap in the public service, and to provide information on the results achieved. Please also provide recent statistical information on the gender pay gap in the public service, and on the distribution of men and women at the various levels of the public service, and the corresponding wages.

Articles 2 and 4. Collective agreements and collaboration with social partners. The Government indicates that there are numerous regulations in collective wage agreements which promote the implementation of the principle of the Convention, including regulations which support the compatibility of work and family, and enable women to increase their working hours in order to overcome pay inequality. The Committee notes that the federal Family Ministry has sponsored a two-year research project run by the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and the Institute for Employment Research which aims to identify starting points for reducing remaining pay differentials during collective wage agreement negotiations. The Committee also notes that in March 2012, the federal Family Ministry approved 10 regional equal opportunities alliances composed of policy makers and businesses, and that each regional alliance signed a written declaration pledging to ensure that men and women are paid equally for work of equal and equivalent value. The objective is to create structures conducive to equal opportunities and in this way to boost the attractiveness and competiveness of participating businesses and regions. The Government also indicates that following the end of the symposium on equal pay for men and women in rural areas, a project was launched by the German Association of Agricultural Women with the Government, to ensure fair earnings perspectives for rural women. The first phase of the project demonstrated that work-related decisions in rural communities prioritize the needs of the family over the individual, and that the commonly held perception that family care is a woman’s job limits women’s employment prospects and contributes to the wage gap. The Committee notes that the project will also develop curriculum to be used to train equal-pay experts who will advise and support individual women and businesses in rural areas. The Committee requests the Government to provide further information on the activities of the regional alliances related to the principle of the Convention and on the implementation of the project to promote equal pay in rural areas, and the impact thereof. Please also provide information on the results of the research project on reducing pay differentials in the negotiation of collective agreements once available, including information on any follow-up measures taken based on the project’s findings.

Article 3. Tools and objective job evaluation. The Committee notes that the federal Family Ministry has commissioned the establishment of a checklist for collective wage agreements to ensure non-discriminatory work assessments. This checklist will be distributed to the social partners in order for them to verify that the collective wage agreements are non-discriminatory. The Committee also notes that as of May 2013, 130 enterprises had received the Logib-D equal pay assessment tool and were awarded the label “Logib-D tested”, and for 70 other establishments the process was still ongoing. The Committee notes that the free online tool, which calculates the wage gap between men and women adjusted for personal and employment characteristics, allows employers to upload their data and receive a detailed wage analysis within minutes. The Committee also notes that an evaluation of the Logib-D pilot project is currently being prepared. With regard to the equality-of-pay check (“eg-check”) tool, the Government indicates that it is only aware of two businesses which have utilized the tool. The Committee notes further that the Anti-Discrimination Office plans to perform an analysis of wage equality using the eg-check tool, in conjunction with private and public sector employers. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the use and impact of the various pay assessment tools, and to provide a copy of the checklist for collective wage agreements. Please provide information on the evaluation of the Logib-D pilot project once it is available, including information on follow-up action taken on the basis of the evaluation. The Committee also asks the Government to provide information on any other steps taken to develop and implement objective job evaluation methods and the results thereof.

Parts III and IV of the report form. Enforcement. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any cases concerning the principle of the Convention addressed by the Anti-Discrimination Office, and any judicial or administrative decisions concerning equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value.