European Committee of Social Rights finds Ireland in violation of right to equal pay and equal opportunities in the workplace
The European Committee of Social Rights has found 14 countries, including Ireland, to be in violation of the European Social Charter as they failed to ensure equality between men and women in the workforce in terms of pay and opportunities. Collective complaints were lodged against 15 countries by international organisation University Women of Europe (UWE), with only Sweden being found in compliance.
Article 4 of the Charter requires that countries “recognise the right of men and women workers to equal pay for work of equal value”. Under Article 20 countries undertake “to take appropriate measures to ensure” gender equality in “access to employment, protection against dismissal and occupational reintegration; vocational guidance, training, retraining and rehabilitation; terms of employment and working conditions, including remuneration and career development, including promotion”.
UWE argued, firstly, that in Ireland the pay gap between women and men still persists and is unfavourable to women. Secondly, UWE alleged that a very small number of women occupy decision-making positions within private companies, as there are no effective legislative measures to ensure the sufficient representation of women in decision-making bodies within private enterprises.
While the Committee recognised that the right to equal pay was protected in legislation and the obligation to ensure access to effective remedies was satisfied, it criticised lack of pay transparency. The Committee stated that pay transparency is instrumental in the effective application of the principle of equal pay for work of equal value. Transparency contributes to identifying gender bias and discrimination and it facilitates the taking of corrective action by workers and employers and their organisations as well as by the relevant authorities.
It was noted that measures to improve pay transparency are underway, in particular the Gender Pay Gap Information Bill, however in their absence lack of pay transparency did not help shed light on the reasons for pay inequalities and may become a major obstacle for victims of pay discrimination to prove discrimination and thus effectively enforce their rights in practice. As pay transparency was not yet guaranteed in practice, pending the implementation of an appropriate legal framework, the situation was not compatible with the Charter.
Further, the Committee considered that in the absence of data on the gender pay gap and therefore of indicators of measurable progress, it had not been demonstrated that the obligation to achieve measurable progress in reducing the gender pay gap had been fulfilled. Data submitted to Eurostat showed that in 2006, the hourly gender pay gap in Ireland stood at 17.2% and at 13.9% in 2010 and 2014. Incomplete statistics have been provided since 2014, preventing analysis of the evolution of the pay gap in the course of the last decade.
The Committee also noted the low rate of female participation on boards of large listed companies in Ireland: in 2010, it stood at 16.5%; in 2017, at 17.6% (the EU average was 25.3%); in 2018, at 18.1% (EU average was 26.7%); and in 2019, at 22.4% (EU average was 27.8%). The Committee acknowledge that the Government has taken certain measures to meet its positive obligation to tackle vertical segregation of women in the labour market. However, these measures have not led to a balanced representation of women in decision-making positions in private companies nor to a clear trend for improvement. The Committee therefore considered that the obligation laid down by the Charter in this respect was not satisfied.
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