6. Work of equal value in ILO Con­vention No. 100 and Agenda 2030 and alternative approaches for comparisons at a national level

The introductory theme of this chapter is the Nordic countries’ reporting to the ILO on measures taken to fulfil the purpose of ILO Convention No. 100. Reports are submitted every three to four years. The most recent reporting period has been reviewed. There are surprising differences between the Nordic countries in their treatment of the theme of work of equal value.

Attention is then drawn to reporting on the implementation of Agenda 2030, specifically goal 8.5 and indicator 8.5.1, which describes progress towards achieving equal pay for work of equal value.

https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda

Goal 8.5 also addresses other issues besides equal pay for work of equal value. The goal includes full and productive employment with decent work for all women and men, including young people and persons with disabilities. The ILO is responsible for providing guidance on the statistics to be used for indicator 8.5.1.

In this chapter thus two different perspectives on the theme of work of equal value are addressed. The application of Convention No. 100 focuses on pay comparisons within individual organisations, i.e. at the local level. Agenda 2030 includes indicators that show developments from a national perspective.

The chapter concludes by describing two alternative approaches to comparing work of equal value at national level. In response to the mandate to include “perspectives from other countries”, a German model is presented that calculates the influence of the undervaluation of female-dominated work on the gender pay gap.

Quote from Equal Pay, an Introductory Guide, pp. 66–67, ILO (2013).

Prior to the writing of this report, a request was made to the responsible ministry in each Nordic country for a copy of the most recent report on Convention No. 100 to the ILO. These writings are commented on below. In addition, the ILO’s feedback on these reports is commented on. The ILO feedback is available in the ILO database. All documents commented on in this chapter have been made available via links.

The latest report on the implementation of ILO Convention No. 100 is from 2022.

Regeringen.dk (2022) ILO report C 100 22-04-30.

The core of the reporting consists of references to five court cases from the Board of Equal Treatment. All decisions are linked to pay setting. One decision concerned discrimination linked to the taking of parental leave and part-time sick leave. The other four decisions concerned pay differentials for equal work. Nothing in the report can be linked to the concept of work of equal value.

The feedback from the ILO pertains not only to the above-mentioned document but also to other official information on gender equality provided online by the Government.

ILO feedback: Direct Request – adopted 2022, No. 100 Denmark.

Here is a selection of the ILO’s comments.

Firstly, the ILO takes note of a Danish report that draws attention to the problem of the structural undervaluation of work dominated by women. According to this official report, 85 per cent of the gender pay gap in Denmark can be linked to the gender-segregated labour market and the fact that men are overrepresented in higher paid jobs. The ILO then asks the Government: What concrete measures have been taken to counteract the problem of structural undervaluation? Furthermore, the ILO requests information that can shed light on the effectiveness of the legislation on gender-disaggregated statistics. The ILO also asks whether this legislation allows for comparisons between work of equal value. Another issue noted by the ILO is the lack of information on the measures taken to promote, in cooperation with social partners, objective job evaluation methods.

So far, it has not been possible to obtain any documents from the Finnish Government on reporting on ILO 100. For that reason, comment is only provided on the feedback by the ILO, which consists of two documents from 2023.

ILO feedback: Direct Request and observation – adopted 2022, No. 100 Finland.

Firstly, it is noted that the Government has initiated a number of studies and projects on equal pay issues and that the ILO is requesting follow-up information. More specifically, information is requested on how supporting measures are implemented to improve compliance with the requirement for pay surveys and the quality of pay surveys. In particular, emphasis is put on the measures taken, in cooperation with social partners, to ensure that the principle of equal pay for work of equal value is implemented. The need to include the principle of equal pay for work of equal value in the design of collective agreements on pay is also emphasised. In addition, information is requested on measures that can be linked to the theme of promoting objective and gender-neutral job evaluation methods. Furthermore, more and clearer information is requested on legal disputes that can be linked to the principle of equal pay for work of equal value. 

With regard to information pertaining to Finland, it should be noted that the parliamentary elections in April 2023 resulted in a change of government. The previous government can be described as a centre-left coalition in which gender equality issues were a clear priority, while the new government coalition is dominated by a conservative party and a right-wing nationalist party. According to information received from experts on Finnish gender equality issues, the previous government’s reform agenda in this area has been put on hold.

The latest Icelandic report to the ILO on the implementation of Convention No. 100 is dated 7 February 2024.

Government.is (2023:1) ILO report C 100, 24-02-07.

The central theme discussed in the document is the gender-segregated labour market. Among other things, it is noted that the main explanation for the statistical pay gap is related to this gender segregation and that female-dominated work is generally under-valued. It is further noted that the Gender Equality Act, in combination with the ÍST-85 standard, is not intended to address pay differentials between employers, nor does it contain provisions by which to do so. It is reported that the Government has taken the initiative to develop a freely available tool for evaluating work requirements and for conducting analyses of the pay structure in individual organizations from a gender perspective. The tool should be suitable for use in both the private and public sectors. 

To address the structural undervaluation of female-dominated work, a tripartite committee including representatives of the Government and social partners has been working on recommendations to be finalised by the end of 2023.

This refers to Job evaluation Iceland, report 2024. The report is briefly commented on in Chapter 7.

It is also reported that from June 2019 to May 2023, six cases on equal pay were heard in court. The report does not indicate whether the cases concerned equal work or work of equal value. In two cases, pay discrimination was found to be present.

The ILO Committee’s feedback to the Government relates primarily to previous reports on the development of the equal pay standard ÍST-85, as well as to the development of various tools for pay analysis. Furthermore, it is stated that the ILO encourages the Icelandic Government’s efforts, and that the ILO is interested in receiving ongoing information on future evaluative studies.

ILO feedback: Direct Request – adopted 2023, No. 100 Iceland.

The Government reports that there have been no recent judicial decisions concerning the issue of equal pay for work of equal value.

Regeringen.no (2023:1) ILO report C 100, 23-05-31.

The report mentions that Norway will for the first time implement a national strategy for work on gender equality issues. The strategy will cover a period of three years starting from 8 March 2024. One of the objectives of the strategy is economic independence and gender equality in employment.

At the Centre for Research on Gender Equality (Core), one of the four priority areas will be the gender-segregated labour market. The report also discusses the causes of the statistical gender pay gap and calls for Core to launch a study to monitor compliance with pay survey provisions. 

The report also refers to an earlier report to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) from the Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud. This report states that the “Ombud” recommends Norwegian authorities to clarify two specific issues that arise in connection with pay surveys. The first issue is the need to clarify the provision that states that the conditions for setting pay for an individual employer shall be reviewed or investigated. The second question concerns the need for clarification to facilitate the grouping of work of equal value. In its response, CEDAW recommends that the Norwegian Government clarify the legislation so that the principle of equal pay for equal work “goes beyond the same establishment or enterprise” (see footnote 41). With reference to this recommendation, the Norwegian Government states in its report to the ILO that there are currently no plans to amend the legislation on pay survey provisions to allow for comparisons between different employers.

It then comments on criticism received by Norway from the European Committee on Social Law on the same issue, namely the external framework for comparing pay for work of equal value. In the discussion that follows, the Norwegian Government refers to the Pay Transparency Directive. The Directive is interpreted by the Government as meaning that “the scope of application of the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value does not go beyond the same establishment or enterprise” (see footnote 41). Furthermore, reference is made to an ongoing project, run in collaboration with partners to the labour market, which aims to obtain new knowledge on pay differentials for work of equal value. Finally, 16 equal pay cases between 2019 and 2023 are briefly commented on. Links to all cases are provided.

In its response to the Government, the ILO Committee requests feedback from an ongoing project with social partners, from the studies managed by the CORE Institute as well as comments on the evolution of the gender pay gap. Subsequently, the ILO requests specific information on how pay survey provisions have been applied with regard to the principle of equal pay for work of equal value. The ILO also notes that information on the efforts of social partners to address pay inequalities has been extremely scarce. The ILO therefore wishes to receive specific information on the measures or activities of these parties in relation to the principle of equal pay for work of equal value. In particular, the ILO is interested in the results of a project involving these parties related to the issue of work of equal value, with a particular focus on job evaluation. Furthermore, the ILO would like more specific information on the outcome of equal pay disputes.

ILO feedback: Direct Request – adopted 2023, No. 100 Norway.

In the autumn of 2021, the Government Offices of Sweden submitted its latest report to the ILO on the implementation of Convention No. 100.

Regeringen.se (2021:1) ILO report C 100, September 2021.

The report describes in broad terms the work and reforms for equal pay and equal income that were carried out from 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2021. The report also mentions the establishment of the Swedish Gender Equality Agency, the purpose of which is to strengthen the implementation of the gender equality policy and follow up on its the overall objectives. Economic equality is one of the Government’s gender equality policy objectives. The report mentions that during the reporting period, the Equality Ombudsman reviewed gender equality plans of 190 authorities, including pay surveys. The Ombudsman has handled four cases related to pay discrimination. There is also a link to an e-learning programme on pay surveys.

In its response, the ILO highlights the consistent lack of concrete measures included in the Government’s reporting.

ILO feedback: Direct Request – adopted 2021, No. 100 Sweden.

For example, information is requested on how the Convention’s objective of equal pay for work of equal value has been promoted by social partners in the formulation of collective agreements on pay setting. To address pay differentials rooted in the gender-segregated labour market, the ILO looks forward to the final report and recommendations expected to be presented in February 2022 by Kommissionen för jämställda livsinkomster (the Commission on Gender Equal Lifetime Earnings).

This report, SOU 2022:4, is commented on in Chapter 7.

It is notable that the reports from Denmark and Sweden lack information on the most central issue, specifically an account of successes or problems in applying the principle of equal pay for work of equal value.

Goal 8.5 of the UN’s Agenda 2030 calls for national statistics that highlight progress towards the goal of equal pay for work of equal value. The Swedish Gender Equality Agency’s report Ekonomisk jämställdhet (Economic Gender Equality), published in January 2022, highlights this issue.

The Swedish Gender Equality Agency report 2022:2.

Statistics Sweden (SCB) provides annual statistical reports on the implementation of Agenda 2030 in Sweden. The Economic Gender Equality report points out that Statistics Sweden lacks statistical data based on comparisons related to work of equal value. The statistics on which the Agenda’s indicator 8.5.1 are based relate instead to pay differentials within equal work, or more specifically to jobs with the same occupational code. The responsible statistical authorities, which are Statistics Sweden and the National Mediation Office, refer to their compliance with the ILO’s Guidebook on SDG Labour Market Indicators.

It is worth noting that the ILO’s Guidebook conflates the concepts of equal work and work of equal value. The ILO’s instructions on Agenda 2030 therefore conflict with the content of ILO Convention No. 100 and the ILO’s Equal Pay, an Introductory Guide, which was published in 2013. In 2021, the Swedish Gender Equality Agency’s investigator drew the ILO’s attention to this contradiction. The response received at the time was evasive, with the ILO stating that the indicator is based on pay statistics that refer to ISCO codes and that comparisons between the same occupational codes closely resemble a comparison of equal work. In the context of the preparation of this report, the same question was again put to the ILO and a similar response was received.

To summarise, the ILO’s handling of the concept of work of equal value can only be described as contradictory. The ILO’s comments on government reports on measures and experiences in applying Convention No. 100, as well as the ILO’s Equal Pay Guide from 2013, clearly show that there is solid knowledge within the ILO of the difference between the concepts of equal work and work of equal value. However, when the ILO has drawn up instructions on the statistical basis for reporting progress towards goal 8.5 of the Agenda 2030, the concepts of equal work and work of equal value have been confused. The underlying statistics for the indicator have no connection whatsoever to the concept of work of equal value.

By 2030, achieve full and productive employment with decent work for all women and men, including young people and persons with disabilities, and ensure equal pay for work of equal value.

The review under this heading is based on the latest available country reporting on the implementation of the various goals of Agenda 2030. In this case, it comments on how goal 8.5, which includes equal pay for work of equal value, has been addressed, as well as indicator 8.5.1. The material shows that in many cases the theme of work of equal value is avoided altogether or that gender pay differentials are described in more general terms.

Denmark’s reporting on goal 8.5 does not address the theme of equal pay for work of equal value.

Regeringen.no (2021) Regeringens Fremdriftsrapport for FN’s Verdensmål 2022-2023 (Government Progress Report for the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2022-2023).

The reporting covers employment. References to indicator 8.5.1 are missing.

The Finnish report briefly comments on the development of the pay gap between women and men.

Government.fi (2020:1) Agenda 2030 Voluntary National Review 2020.

It indicates that Finland needs to improve equal pay legislation and that this also requires adequate resources. A statistical annex to the report contains a table showing pay development over time and by gender.

Government.fi (2020:2) Agenda 2030 Review 2020, Statistical Annex.

The Icelandic report addresses the theme of work of equal value by mentioning the legal requirement for equal pay certification. It also states that measures have been taken to reduce the pay gap resulting from the gender-segregated labour market but that further efforts are necessary.

Government.is (2023:1) Agenda 2030 Voluntary National Review 2023.

There are no indicators in this report.

There are two reports from Norway, one in English from 2021 and one in Norwegian from 2023.

Regeringen.no (2021) Agenda 2030 Voluntary National Review 2021 and Regeringen.no (2023:2) Oppfølging av berekraftsmåla i Noreg (Follow-up of the Sustainable Development Goals in Norway).

The 2021 report does not address the issue of equal pay for work of equal value and in the annex of indicators, indicator 8.5.1 is omitted. The 2023 report discusses issues related to traditional pay statistics, especially for low-paid groups, but without linking the issue to gender pay differentials. The concept of work of equal value also does not appear in this report.

The latest Swedish report is from 2022.

Statistics Sweden SCB (2022) Statistisk lägesbild 2022. Genomförande av Agenda 2030 i Sverige (Statistical snapshot 2022: Implementation of Agenda 2030 in Sweden).

Statistics are included under objective 8, but none pertaining to the pay differentials between women and men. There is a sentence in the report stating that men are still paid more than women on average, but that the gender gap has narrowed slightly year on year. The theme of work of equal value is not addressed at all.

The fact that the statistics on which indicator 8.5.1 of Agenda 2030 is based does not reflect pay differentials between work of equal value, but instead shows pay differentials between occupations with the same ISCO code, has been recognised by the Swedish Gender Equality Agency and by the Norwegian agency Bufdir (the Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs). Among other things, Bufdir has a mandate to promote equal pay.

Bufdir is a government agency whose main areas of work are children’s rights, adoption issues, equal treatment and non-discrimination and violence and abuse in close relationships; see www.bufdir.no.

Two different initiatives are outlined below, the starting point of which is to find a way to use statistics to describe progress towards the Agenda’s goal of equal pay for work of equal value at the national level.

In connection with a government commission on the development of economic gender equality in Sweden since 2015, the discrepancy between the purpose of indicator 8.5.1 in the Agenda 2030 and the underlying statistics was highlighted. This issue is dealt with by an independent consultant, Lena Johansson, in Annex 3 of that report. In addition, the issue is summarised and commented on in Chapter 7 of the main report. Since then, another report has been presented using the same methodology as a starting point, this time by the consulting group Lönelotsarna, of which Lena Johansson is a member.

Harriman, Johansson and Trollvik (2023) Strukturella löneskillnader – högt värderad, låg lön (Structural pay differentials – high value, low pay).

The report Ekonomisk jämställdhet (Economic Gender Equality) presents the starting points for an indicator that calculates the pay gap between occupations of equal value at the national level. The proposal is seen as a supplement to the official statistics for which the National Mediation Office is responsible. Firstly, an indicator is proposed that describes structural pay differentials defined by 13  levels of requirements and includes all of the country’s occupational categories according to the SSYK-klassificeringen (SSYK classification).

SSYK is the national variant linked to the international system of ISCO codes.

Secondly, an aggregate measure for the labour market as a whole is proposed. By this measure, the structural pay differential is calculated to be 19 per cent, based on 2019 figures. The indented text below and two tables are extracts translated from the Swedish Gender Equality Agency’s report:

In September 2023, Institutt for samfunnsforskning (the Norwegian Institute for Social Research) received a commission from Bufdir.

https://www.samfunnsforskning.no/prosjekter/aktive/lonnsforskjeller-mellom-kvinner-og-menn-og-forklar.html

The assignment draws attention to the fact that research on pay differentials between women and men performing work of equal value has so far been limited. It is also noted that Norway lacks statistics that relate at a national level to the objective expressed in Agenda 2030, indicator 8.5.1, namely equal pay for work of equal value. Some of the key issues for the project are:

The project is led by Maria F. Hoen. Here is a summary of her description of the ongoing work, as of 24 April 2024:

The analysis starts with the employees’ occupations and a representative set of characteristics using data from the American O*NET database and the working environment monitor from Statistisk Sentralbyrå’s (Statistics Norway) survey of living conditions. We will then make a number of adjustments, in terms of which characteristics we include and how we measure the characteristics, to study how the results change.

In a next step, these characteristics are combined with the four overarching factors included in discrimination legislation to assess whether two jobs are of equal value. The aim is to group occupations according to the ‘value’ of each factor (occupations with the same level and type of responsibility, occupations with the same skill requirements, etc.) These groups can then be aggregated into an overall measure (grouping those of equal value across all factors), but this requires a value judgement of how much each factor should count in relation to the others.

Initially it is important to be cautious in making such value judgements, as we consider the debate over valuation to be a political one. Therefore, we intend to highlight the various judgements and choices made in developing a ‘value indicator’ and highlight the implications of these, for example by illustrating how the ranking/grouping of occupations changes when the weighting of the factors changes. One of the main aims of the study is to make these considerations visible and to highlight the challenges of developing a ‘value indicator’.

In Germany, two research reports were published in 2016 and 2018 on the development of a comparative index for assessing occupations of equal value at the national level, Der "Comparable Worth" – Index als Instrument zur Analyse des Gender Pay Gap (The “Comparable Worth” – Index as an instrument for analysing the gender pay gap) and “Comparable Worth” (CW).

Lillemeier (2016) and Klammer, Klenner and Lillemeier (2018).

This CW index has then been applied to pay data related to occupational classifications based on the ISCO model. To evaluate existing occupations, the researchers used the methodology of the eg-check.de job evaluation system provided by the Antidiskriminierungsstelle des Bundes (Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency). The application of this CW index represents a further step in developing better models to explain the causes of the gender pay gap. A follow-up study published in 2022, “Evaluative Diskrimineringung”: Arbeitsbewertung als blinder Fleck in der Analyse des Gender Pay Gaps (“Evaluative Discrimination”: Job evaluation as a Blind Spot in the Analysis of the Gender Pay Gap), shows that almost three-quarters of the gender pay gap in Germany is a result of the undervaluation of work dominated by women.

Klammer, Klenner, Lillemeier and Hellmann (2022).Kompletterande kontrollvariabler för analys av könslönegapet

One factor that has highlighted the concept of work of equal value within the national context is that pay formation in Germany is largely determined by pay scales that are the result of negotiations at the industry level.

In two further studies, commented on in Chapter 7, there is a discussion about the need to use additional control variables to analyse the gender pay gap in the labour market. One is from Denmark, Den ’uforklarede’ del af forskellen mellem kvinders og mænds timeløn (The ‘unexplained’ part of the differential between women’s and men’s hourly pay; 2020), and the other from Iceland, Icelandic gender pay gap analysis 2008-2020.

Larsen, Verne and Højgaard Mikkelsen (2020) and Calian (2021).

In summary, the examples from Sweden, Norway and Germany show that statistics aimed at highlighting the undervaluation of work dominated by women challenge the established perception of the gender pay gap. Instead of comparisons between different occupations and sectors being communicated as an explanatory factor that roughly halves the statistical pay gap, according to the official narrative, one of the alternative methods presented shows that the pay gap is rather doubled. In Agenda 2030, the ILO has a mandate as a custodian agency to provide instructions on how countries can use statistical means to describe progress towards the goal of equal pay for work of equal value. A new approach by the UN agency to promote the development of new statistical models seems urgent. Even the national authorities, that have dutifully reported data on the pay gap as part of Agenda 2030 obligations, should have reacted long ago to the fact that this data does not match what is to be described.