Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - France (Ratification: 1953)

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The Committee notes the observations of the French Confederation of Management – General Confederation of Professional and Managerial Employees (CFE-CGC) and of the General Confederation of Labour – Force ouvrière (CGT-FO), communicated by the Government with its report, and the Government’s responses.

Articles 1 to 4 of the Convention. Data on remuneration gaps between women and men. The Committee notes that, according to the dashboard on the French economy (published in 2022) of the National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), in 2020: (1) women’s full-time equivalent salaries were 14.8 per cent lower than those of men, compared with 19.4 per cent in 2010; (2) for the various occupational categories, the gap was 16.4 per cent for managerial staff (22.2 per cent in 2010), 14.1 per cent for manual workers (17.2 per cent in 2010), 11.9 per cent for intermediary occupations (12.9 per cent in 2010) and 4.6 per cent for employees (6.8 per cent in 2010). The Committee notes this new information and requests the Government to: (i) continue taking measures to evaluate and analyse gender pay gaps in all economic sectors and, if possible, by occupational category; and (ii) provide information on the measures adopted, the studies carried out and the gaps measured.

Legislative developments. The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that it has made equality between women and men, particularly in occupational matters, one of its principal priorities and has reinforced the legislation on equal remuneration for women and men by establishing a requirement for transparency and results for all enterprises with at least 50 employees. In this regard, the Committee notes with interest the adoption of: (1) Act No. 2018-771 of 5 September 2018 on the freedom to choose one’s professional future, which inserts into the Labour Code a chapter on measures to remove remuneration gaps between women and men at the enterprise level and creates the professional equality index for women and men (sections L.1142-7 to L.1142-11) and; (2) Act No. 2021-1774 of 24 December 2021 to accelerate economic and professional equality, which reinforced these measures (particularly through the publication of corrective and catch-up measures in the event that the index is lower than 75 points and the annual publication on the website of the Ministry of Labour of the results achieved by enterprises for all the indicators on the index). The Committee notes that, during the Social Conference held on 16 October 2023, the Government announced the establishment in the near future of a High Council for Remuneration, which will follow and accompany the revision of classifications and prevent the compression of wage scales, and will also focus on the wage situation of women with the objective of achieving equality. With a view to ensuring the implementation of this mechanism, the Committee encourages the Government to take measures to raise awareness of the new provisions regarding the new professional equality index among employers, workers and their respective organizations, as well as officials responsible for controlling the implementation of the mechanism. It requests the Government to provide information on the action taken in this regard.

Measures to combat remuneration gaps. Transparency of salaries. Professional equality index for women and men. Private sector. The Committee notes the detailed information provided by the Government on the professional equality index for women and men. It notes that each year enterprises with fewer than 50 employees are required to calculate and publish on their websites, in a visible and readable manner, the overall score for the equality index for women and men, and the score obtained for each of the four or five following indicators (depending on the size of the enterprise): the average remuneration gap between women and men, by age category; the gap in the individual rates of wage increases (excluding promotions) for women and men, by socio-occupational category; the percentage of women employees who have received an increase during the year following their return from maternity leave; the number of employees of the sex with the lowest representation among the ten employees receiving the highest remuneration; and the gap in the promotion rate for women and men, by socio-occupational category (only for enterprises with over 250 employees). Since 2022, if they have a score lower than 85 out of 100, enterprises have been required to set and publish objectives for progress in each of the indicators and, if the score is below 75 points, enterprises are required to publish their corrective and catch-up measures. These annual or pluriannual measures and these objectives must be determined within the framework of compulsory negotiations on occupational equality or, if there is no agreement, by unilateral decision of the employer following consultation of the enterprise social and economic committee. In the event of failure to comply with these requirements, the enterprise is liable to a financial penalty of up to 1 per cent of its wage bill.

The Committee notes that the CGT-FO, in its observations, emphasizes that the professional equality index is only compulsory for enterprises with at least 50 employees, but that the obligation of equality of remuneration set out in the Convention covers all workers. The Committee notes that, in its reply, the Government refers to sections L.3221-2, L.1142-7 and L.2242-1 of the Labour Code and emphasizes that all of these provisions require all French enterprises to ensure compliance with the principle of equal remuneration for women and men.

The Committee also notes the CFE-CGC’s indication that the index is still incomplete and would benefit from being corrected, as the “relevance threshold”, the scale and the weighting serve to mask part of the gap. The CFE-CGC emphasizes the need to improve the methods for the calculation of the index, including on the following points: (1) the progressive nature of the points scale used for the index and the fact that the five indicators compensate for each other, which allows enterprises to avoid penalties despite remuneration gaps of 15 per cent; (2) the fact that wage gaps lower than 5 per cent are considered to be tolerable and allow enterprises to obtain the maximum score of 40 out of 40; (3) the components of remuneration, which should include a broader range of elements so as to include all benefits and additional emoluments; (4) the parity indicator for the ten highest remunerations, which should be changed to carry more points; and (5) the average amount of the wage increase received following the return from maternity leave, which should be mentioned on an indicative basis. The CFE-CGC adds that it is also essential to reinforce other levers: transparency requirements and the information and social dialogue resources of enterprise social and economic committees and the systematic unfreezing of the wage catch-up packages required to overcome salary gaps. According to the union: (1) the establishment of a wage catch-up package should be made compulsory as soon as the 40 points for the first indicator (remuneration gap) are not achieved; (2) it would be preferable to focus on a distribution of salaries other than by socio-occupational category in order to refine data on remuneration gaps; and (3) it is necessary to apply penalties immediately in the event of unsatisfactory outcomes, as the three-year period accorded to enterprises to achieve conformity with the requirement of achieving a score of at least 75 out of 100 appears to be excessively long. Finally, the CFE-CGC recalls that the index is not an end in itself, or in other words that it is not in itself a tool for the reduction of remuneration gaps (it is a photograph at a given moment) and that the use of this tool makes it possible to know the situation of women and men in the enterprise, open up dialogue where necessary on this subject and take the necessary corrective measures. It adds that the results of the 2021 index were both encouraging in certain respects in relation to the previous year (the increase in the number of enterprises that had published the index, the increase by one point in the average score – 85 out of 100), and worrying in other respects (only 2 per cent of enterprises achieved 100 points, increases in remuneration when returning from maternity are not respected by 13 per cent of enterprises, while 43 per cent of enterprises with over 1,000 employees have fewer than two women among the highest earners, etc.).

The Committee notes the Government’s response that the progression of the results obtained in the index show its effectiveness (the average score of enterprises with 1,000 or more employees rose by 6 points between 2019 and 2022; only 10 per cent of enterprises had an overall score of under 75 points). With reference to the 2022 results, the Government adds that: (1) the average score was 86, one point higher than in 2021, and was 89 for enterprises with over 1,000 employees, that is one point higher than in 2021 and two points higher than in 2020; (2) 95 per cent of enterprises with over 1,000 employees and 88 per cent of enterprises with between 250 and 1,000 employees calculated and declared their index; and (3) there is room for improvement among enterprises with between 50 and 250 employees, of which 72 per cent have complied with the declaration requirement. The Government adds that it is important not to modify the methods for the calculation of the index before the completion of the penalty cycle in 2023 so as to be able to guarantee the application of penalties, where necessary, and specifies that the first penalties for the absence of results can be imposed as from 2023 for enterprises with between 50 and 250 employees (which declared their index in 2020 for the first time). It further specifies that the mechanism has been strengthened by the Act of 24 December 2021 and it remains attentive to the issue of wage transparency, which is covered by a European Directive. The Committee observes that Directive 2023/970 to strengthen the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women through pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms, adopted on 10 May 2023, sets out the requirement for employers to report data on the remuneration gap. Finally, the Committee notes that the Government announced at the Social Conference on 16 October 2023 the forthcoming creation of a new more ambitious index on equality between women and men which will be more transparent and reliable. In light of the above, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures, in collaboration with employers’ and workers’ organizations, to: (i) implement effectively the current and revised mechanisms of the professional equality index, particularly through training; (ii) evaluate the corrective measures taken by enterprises and the results achieved in terms of the reduction, or indeed elimination of remuneration gaps between women and men and, where appropriate, adapt the envisaged indicators; and (iii) analyse and eliminate the obstacles encountered in this context. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the establishment and the components of the new index and the operation of the penalty mechanism, with an indication of the number of controls undertaken and the enterprises concerned, and the level of the penalties imposed in the event of failure to comply with obligations related to the professional equality index.

Public sector. The Committee notes that, according to the report of the Court of Accounts of September 2023, progress has been achieved in the public sector in identifying the sources of the remuneration gaps identified, but it is still necessary to obtain a better understanding of gaps in relation to bonuses and promotions in order to take action on any discrimination. In this regard, the Committee notes with interest the adoption of Act No. 2023-623 of 19 July 2023 to reinforce the access of women to positions of responsibility in the public service, which: (1) is intended to combat vertical occupational segregation by raising gradually over time from 40 to 50 per cent the minimum number of persons of each sex benefiting from internal promotions to higher level and managerial positions in the public service (with a minimum rate of 40 per cent of persons of each sex in higher level and managerial positions); and (2) creates obligations in relation to transparency in remuneration through the establishment of the vocational equality index for women and men in the public service (administrative units with over 50 employees) based on the model of the index introduced in the private sector. The Committee requests the Government to take measures, in collaboration with workers’ organizations, to: (i) evaluate and eliminate gaps between women and men public employees in respect of bonuses and other benefits which form part of remuneration within the meaning of the Convention; (ii) give effect to Act No. 2023-623 of 19 July 2023, and particularly the professional equality index in the public service (awareness-raising and training for the personnel concerned); and (iii) compile and analyse the results achieved.

Article 3. Application of the principle of equal remuneration for women and men for work of equal value. Objective job evaluation. Development or revision of job classifications. The Committee recalls that the implementation of the concept of “work of equal value” requires the adoption of some method of measuring and comparing the relative value of different jobs on the basis of objective criteria exempt from any sexist prejudices. The Committee requests the Government to take measures to promote the objective evaluation of jobs among workers’ and employers’ organizations, administrations and the bodies or persons concerned, particularly through the development or revision of occupational classifications. It also requests the Government to provide information on any revision of occupational classifications that is being undertaken or has already been carried out, the results achieved, the good practices identified and the difficulties encountered.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.