Companies to face fines if pay gap persists

The French prime minister Edouard Philippe presented plans to fine companies who fail to erase gender pay gap in three years’ time.

Speaking to unions and employers on Wednesday, Philippe suggested plans to install special software to monitor unjustified pay gaps in payroll systems of companies with more than 50 employees.

The software roll out will start in 2019 with companies that have more than 250 employees, and by 2020, target firms with a headcount of 50 to 249.

After three years, labour inspectors can fine a company up to 1% of the total wage bill if they fail to erase the gap found by the software.

On average, men are paid 9% more than women in France, even though labour laws have required equal pay for the past 45 years, the government said.

“The software is not a magic want, but it will reveal certain differences in the pay between men and women,” Philippe told journalists after the announcement.

In the coming month, the government aims to work out details of the plan with employers, unions and experts. The discussion will also include plans about a broader labour reform package to be presented to parliament in April, reported Reuters.

Companies will also have to be more transparent about their gender pay gaps: information must be made available on their websites and unions will have access to data by job role and seniority.

Employers who attended the presentation were concerned about Philippe’s plan.

Union leaders were open to the plan but some had reservations about what criteria would be used to determine whether the pay gap was justified.