38 Amendments of Daniela RONDINELLI related to 2021/0050(COD)
Amendment 164 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 3 a (new)
Recital 3 a (new)
(3a) Article 157(3) TFEU provides for the possibility of adopting measures to ensure the application of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation, including the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value.
Amendment 176 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 5
Recital 5
(5) The European Pillar of Social Rights41, jointly proclaimed by the European Parliament, the Council, and the Commission, incorporates among its principles equality of treatment and opportunities between women and men, including with regard to labour market participation, terms and conditions of employment and career progression, and the right to equal pay for work of equal value. _________________ 41 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/priorities/ deeper-and-fairer-economic-and-monetary- union/european-pillar-social- rights/european-pillar-social-rights-20- principles_en
Amendment 178 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 5 a (new)
Recital 5 a (new)
(5a) Article 157(4) TFEU stipulates that Member States may, with a view to ensuring full equality in practice between men and women in working life, maintain or adopt measures providing for specific advantages in order to make it easier for the under-represented sex to pursue a vocational activity or to prevent or compensate for disadvantages in professional careers.
Amendment 208 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 9
Recital 9
(9) The gender pay gap is caused by various factors, part of which can be attributed to direct and indirect gender pay discrimination, gender stereotypes, horizontal segregation and the perpetuation of a ‘glass ceiling’ (whereby women are excluded from senior positions), and the ‘sticky floor’ (whereby women are kept in less well-paid jobs). A general lack of transparency about pay levels within organisations maintains a situation where gender-based pay discrimination and bias can go undetected or, where suspected, are difficult to prove. Binding measures are therefore needed to improve pay transparency, encourage organisations to review their pay structures to ensure equal pay for women and men doing the same work or work of equal value, and enable victims of discrimination to enforce their right to equal pay. This needs to be complemented by provisions clarifying existing legal concepts (such as the concept of ‘pay’ and ‘work of equal value’) and measures improving enforcement mechanisms and access to justice. To fight gender inequality effectively, regulatory instruments must be created to guarantee women better labour market access, career transparency and better work-life balance policies that also encourage the sharing of care-giving activities.
Amendment 231 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 12
Recital 12
(12) In order to remove obstacles for victims of gender pay discrimination to enforce their right to equal pay and guide employers in ensuring respect of this right, the core concepts related to equal pay, such as ‘pay’ and ‘work of equal value’, should be clarified in line with the case-law of the Court. This should facilitate the application of these concepts, especially for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.
Amendment 252 #
(15) In order to respect the right to equal pay between men and women, employers must have pay setting mechanisms or pay structures in place ensuring that there are no pay differences between male and female workers doing the same work or work of equal value that are not justified by objective and gender-neutral factors. Such pay structures should allow for the comparison of the value of different jobs within the same organisational structure. In line with the case-law of the Court, the value of work should be assessed and compared based on objective criteria, such as educational, professional and training requirements, skills, effort and responsibility, work undertaken and the nature of the tasks involved, as is the case with collective agreements49. _________________ 49 For example, Case C-400/93, Royal Copenhagen, ECLI:EU:C:1995:155; Case C-309/97, Angestelltenbetriebsrat der Wiener Gebietskrankenkasse, ECLI:EU:C:1999:241; Case C-381/99, Brunnhofer, ECLI:EU:C:2001:358; Case C-427/11, Margaret Kenny and Others v Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and Others [2013] ECLI:EU:C:2013:122, paragraph 28.
Amendment 275 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 18
Recital 18
(18) Member States and the social partners should develop specific tools and methodologies to support and guide the assessment of what constitutes work of equal value. This should facilitate the application of this concept, especially for micro, small and medium- sized enterprises.
Amendment 288 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 20
Recital 20
(20) The lack of information on the envisaged pay range of a job position creates an information asymmetry which limits the bargaining power of applicants. Ensuring transparency should enable prospective workers to make an informed decision about the expected salary without limiting in any way the employer’s or worker’s bargaining power to negotiate a salary even outside the indicated range. It would also ensure an explicit and non- gender biased basis for pay setting and would disrupt the undervaluation of pay compared to skills and experience. This transparency measure would also address intersectional discrimination where non- transparent pay settings allow for discriminatory practices on several discrimination grounds. Theis information musto be provided to applicants prior to employment, if not published in a job vacancy notice, could be provided to the applicant prior to the job interview by the employer or in a different manner, for instance by the social partnersublished in a job vacancy notice.
Amendment 332 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 25
Recital 25
(25) Employers with at least 250 10 workers should regularly report on pay, in a suitable and transparent manner, such as including the information in their management report. Companies subject to the requirements of Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council52 may also choose to report on pay alongside other worker-related matters in their management report. _________________ 52 Directive 2013/34/EU, as amended by Directive 2014/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014 as regards disclosure of non- financial and diversity information by certain large undertakings and groups (OJ L 330, 15.11.2014, p. 1).
Amendment 342 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 26
Recital 26
(26) Pay reporting should allow employers to evaluate and monitor their pay structures and policies, allowing them to proactively comply with the principle of equal pay. At the same time, the gender- disaggregated data should assist competent public authorities, workers’ representativetrade unions and other stakeholders to monitor the gender pay gap across sectors (horizontal segregation) and functions (vertical segregation). Employers may wish to accompany the published data by an explanation of any gender pay differences or gaps. In cases where differences in average pay for the same work or work of equal value between female and male workers cannot be justified by objective and gender-neutral factors, the employer should take measures to remove the inequalities.
Amendment 347 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 27
Recital 27
(27) To reduce the burden on employers, Member States, in agreement with the social partners, could decide to gather and interlink the necessary data through their national administrations allowing for a computation of the pay gap between female and male workers per employer. Such data gathering may require interlinking data from several public administrations (such as tax inspectorates and social security offices) and would be possible if administrative data matching employers’ (company/organisational level) to workers’ (individual level) data, including benefits in cash and in-kind, are available. Member States could decide to gather this information not only for those employers covered by the pay reporting obligation under this Directive, but also with regard to micro, small and medium- sized enterprises. The publication of the required information by Member States should replace the obligation of pay reporting on those employers covered by the administrative data provided that the result intended by the reporting obligation is achieved.
Amendment 356 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 29
Recital 29
(29) Joint pay assessments should trigger the review and revision of pay structures in organisations with at least 2510 workers that show pay inequalities. The joint pay assessment should be carried out by employers in cooperation with workers’ representatives; if workers’trade unions; if trade union representatives are absent, they should be designated for this purposeor elected by the trade unions or their members, or by the employees of the companies, depending on national legislation or the content of collective agreements. Joint pay assessments should lead to the elimination of gender discrimination in pay.
Amendment 393 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 34
Recital 34
(34) Equality bodies and workers’ representativetrade unions should also be able to represent one or several workers who believe to be discriminated against based on sex in violation of the principle of equal pay for the same work or work of equal value. Bringing claims on behalf of or supporting several workers is a way to facilitate proceedings that would not have been brought otherwise because of procedural and financial barriers or a fear of victimisation and also when workers are facing discrimination on multiple grounds which can be difficult to disentangle. Collective claims have the potential to uncover systemic discrimination and create visibility of equal pay and gender equality in society as a whole. The possibility of collective redress would motivate pro- active compliance with pay transparency measures, creating peer pressure and increasing employers’ awareness and willingness to act preventively.
Amendment 412 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 40
Recital 40
(40) In accordance with the case-law of the Court, national rules on time limits for the enforcement of rights under this Directive should be such that they cannot be regarded as capable of rendering virtually impossible or excessively difficult the exercise of those rights. Limitation periods create specific obstacles for victims of gender pay discrimination. For that purpose, common minimum standards should be established. Those standards should determine when the limitation period begins to run, the duration thereof and the circumstances under which it is interrupted or suspended and provide that the limitation period for bringing claims is at least threfive years.
Amendment 417 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 41
Recital 41
(41) Litigation costs create a serious disincentive for victims of gender pay discrimination to claim their right to equal pay, leading to insufficient protection and enforcement of the right to equal pay. In order to remove this strong procedural obstacle to justice, successful claimants should be allowed to recover their procedural costs from the defendant. On the other hand, claimants should not be liable for successful defendant’s proceedings costs unless the claim was brought in bad faith, was clearly frivolous or if the non-recovery by the defendant would be considered unreasonable by the courts or other competent authorities under the specific circumstances of the case, for instance having regard to the financial situation of micro-enterprises.
Amendment 459 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 52
Recital 52
(52) In implementing this Directive Member States should avoid imposing administrative, financial and legal constraints in a way which would hold back the creation and development of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. Member States are therefore invited to assess the impact of their transposition act, on micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises in order to ensure it has been correctly applied and to verify that they are not disproportionately affected, giving specific attention to micro-enterprises, to alleviate the administrative burden, and to publish the results of such assessments.
Amendment 475 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 2 – paragraph 2
Article 2 – paragraph 2
2. This Directive applies to all workers who have an employment contract or employment relationship as defined by law, collective agreements and/or practice in force in each Member State, including part-time workers, workers on fixed-term contracts and persons with a contract of employment or with an employment relationship with a temporary agency, with consideration to the case-law of the Court of Justice.
Amendment 500 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point g
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point g
(g) category of workers: means workers performing the same work or work of equal value grouped by the workers’ employer based on criteria as laid down in Article 4 of this Directive and specified by the employer concerned;
Amendment 541 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 4 – paragraph 1
Article 4 – paragraph 1
1. Member States, with the social partners, shall take the necessary measures to ensure that employers have pay structures in place ensuring that women and men are paid equally for the same work or work of equal value.
Amendment 551 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 4 – paragraph 2
Article 4 – paragraph 2
2. Member States, with the social partners, shall take the necessary measures ensuring that tools or methodologies are established to assess and compare the value of work in line with the criteria set out in this Article. These tools or methodologies may include gender- neutral job evaluation and classification systems.
Amendment 579 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 4 – paragraph 4
Article 4 – paragraph 4
4. Whenever differences in pay can be attributed to a single source establishing the pay conditions, the assessment whether workers are carrying out the same work or work of equal value shall not be limited to situations in which female and male workers work for the same employer but may be extended to that single source. The assessment shall also not be limited to workers employed at the same time as the worker concerned. Where no real comparator can be established, a comparison with a hypothetical comparator or the use of other evidence allowing to presume alleged discrimination shall be permitted, such as the use of the classification identified by the social partners in the relevant collective agreements, signed by the most representative organisations.
Amendment 684 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. Employers with at least 2510 workers shall provide the following information concerning their organisation, in accordance with paragraphs 2, 3, and 5:
Amendment 732 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 8 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 8 – paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Depending on the size of the undertaking, employers shall provide the information referred to in paragraph 1 within the following time frames. - undertakings with 10 to 50 employees: every three years; - undertakings with 50 to 250 employees: every two years. - undertakings with more than 250 employees: every year.
Amendment 759 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 8 – paragraph 4
Article 8 – paragraph 4
4. Member States, with the support of the social partners, may decide to compile the information set out in paragraph 1, points (a) to (f) themselves, on the basis of administrative data such as data provided by employers to the tax or social security authorities. This information shall be made public in accordance with paragraph 6.
Amendment 769 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 8 – paragraph 5
Article 8 – paragraph 5
5. The employer shall provide the information referred to in paragraph 1, point (g) to all workers and their union representatives, as well as to the monitoring body referred to in paragraph 6. It shall provide it to the labour inspectorate and the equality body upon their request. The information from the previous four years, if available, shall also be provided upon request.
Amendment 788 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 8 – paragraph 7
Article 8 – paragraph 7
7. Workers and their union representatives, labour inspectorates and equality bodies shall have the right to ask the employer for additional clarifications and details regarding any of the data provided, including explanations concerning any gender pay differences. The employer shall respond to such request within a reasonable time by providing a substantiated reply. Where gender pay differences are not justified by objective and gender-neutral factors, the employer shall remedy the situation in close cooperation with the workers’ representativeunions, the labour inspectorate and/or the equality body.
Amendment 807 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 9 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 9 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. Member States shall take appropriate measures to ensure that employers with at least 2510 workers conduct, in cooperation with their workers’ representativeunions, a joint pay assessment where both of the following conditions are met:
Amendment 812 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 9 – paragraph 1 – point a
Article 9 – paragraph 1 – point a
(a) the pay reporting conducted in accordance with Article 8 demonstrates a difference of average pay level between female and male workers of at least 52 per cent in any category of workers;
Amendment 830 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 9 – paragraph 2 – point d
Article 9 – paragraph 2 – point d
(d) the reasons for such differences in pay levels and objective, gender-neutral justifications, if any, as established jointly by workers’ representativeunions and the employer;
Amendment 846 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 9 – paragraph 3
Article 9 – paragraph 3
3. Employers shall make the joint pay assessments available to workers, workers’ representativeunions, the monitoring body designated pursuant to Article 26, the equality body and the labour inspectorate.
Amendment 855 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 9 – paragraph 4
Article 9 – paragraph 4
4. If the joint pay assessment reveals differences in average pay for equal work or work of equal value between female and male workers which cannot be justified by objective and gender-neutral criteria, the employer shall remedy the situation, in close cooperation with the workers’ representativeunions, labour inspectorate, and/or equality body. Such action shall include the establishment of gender-neutral job evaluation and classification to ensure that any direct or indirect pay discrimination on grounds of sex is excluded.
Amendment 869 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 10 – paragraph 3
Article 10 – paragraph 3
3. Member States may decide that, where the disclosure of information pursuant to Articles 7, 8 and 9 would lead to the disclosure, either directly or indirectly, of the pay of an identifiable co- worker, only the workers’ representativeunions or the equality body shall have access to that information. The representativeunions or equality body shall advise workers regarding a possible claim under this Directive without disclosing actual pay levels of individual workers doing the same work or work of equal value. The monitoring body referred to in Article 26 shall have access to the information without restriction.
Amendment 894 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 13 – paragraph 2
Article 13 – paragraph 2
2. Equality bodies and workers’ representativeunions shall also have the right to act on behalf or in support of several workers, by means of collective redress actions, with the latter’s approval.
Amendment 943 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 18 – paragraph 3
Article 18 – paragraph 3
3. Member States shall ensure that the limitation periods for bringing claims are set at threfive years at least.
Amendment 962 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 19 – paragraph 1
Article 19 – paragraph 1
Claimants who prevail on a pay discrimination claim shall have the right to recover from the defendant, in addition to any other damages, reasonable legal and experts’ fees and costs. Defendants who prevail on a pay discrimination claim shall not have the right to recover any legal and experts’ fees from the claimant(s) and costs, unless the claim was brought in bad faith, was clearly frivolous or where such non-recovery is considered manifestly unreasonable under the specific circumstances of the casein accordance with the provisions laid down by their national legal systems.
Amendment 999 #
1. Workers and their union representatives shall not be treated less favourably on the ground that they have exercised their rights relating to equal pay between men and women.
Amendment 1001 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 22 – paragraph 2
Article 22 – paragraph 2
2. Member States shall introduce in their national legal systems such measures as necessary to protect workers, including those who are workers'eir union representatives as provided for by national law and/or practice, against dismissal or other adverse treatment by the employer as a reaction to a complaint within the undertaking or to any legal proceedings aimed at enforcing compliance with any rights or obligations relating to equal pay between men and women.
Amendment 1083 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 31 – paragraph 2
Article 31 – paragraph 2
2. When informing the Commission, Member States shall also accompany it with a summary of the results of their assessment regarding the impact of their transposition act on micro, small and medium- sized enterprises and a reference to where such assessment is published.