Czech Republic

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The Czech endeavours to eliminate the gender pay gap are concentrated within the long-term project currently operating under currently the title “EQUAL PAY” (2023-2026) www.rovnaodmena.cz/  which is a direct follow up on “22 % TOWARDS EQUALITY” (2016-2022), both operated under the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA).

The Equal Pay Project

Measuring the Gender Pay Gap 

We adapted the analytical tool Logib for the environment of Czech labour law. Using it, employers can find out how much difference in the remuneration of women and men there is in their own organization. Currently, more than 30 employers are undergoing the analysis. 
The online Wage and Salary Calculator tool provides information on wage and salary levels in specific sectors, industries, positions, and regions, based on individually-entered characteristics including years of experience and education.  Via this calculator, individuals can find information on real wage and salary levels currently earned by women and men in specific sectors, industries, positions, and regions, based on individually entered characteristics including gender, years of experience, and education. The data of the calculator is based directly on the Average Earnings Information System database and is updated annually. As such, this tool is an up-to-date fine-tuned source of sex-disaggregated statistics on wages.

Education and Awareness

We have also been paying attention to international communication of equal pay and all related topics. Sharing experience has proven to be an effective driving mechanism of progress and we plan to keep doing it, also hopefully with the help of EPIC as a member. An example is the last session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women during which we organized a highly attended side-event: NEW OPPORTUNITIES TO REDUCE THE GENDER PAY GAP IN THE DIGITAL AGE: THE EU PAY TRANSPARENCY DIRECTIVE, EXAMPLES OF NATIONAL LEGISLATION, AND FURTHER GOOD PRACTICES GLOBALLY (March 07, 2023).  

The Czech Presidency in the EU Council in 2022 has contributed significantly to the adoption of a new EU legislation: DIRECTIVE (EU) 2023/970 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 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, having succeeded in reaching a political agreement between the EU Council and the European Parliament. It is a crucial milestone on the way to pay equality. Following this directive, the Czech Republic now must implement concrete policies and practices for pay transparency.

The legal transposition process has already started and an inter-ministerial working group for pay transparency directive has been established. The binding deadline for all legal provisions is set for June 7, 2026.

We are keen on learning how EPIC member countries encounter pay transparency and what tools there are to help employers set pay systems based on the value of work. 
Since we adopted the Swiss tool Logib and invested in its Czech translation, pilot-testing, and even some add-ons, we are especially interested in all the Logib development and use, in Switzerland, but also across the board of EPIC. 
We have already started doing so when we explored the Good Practices in Canada – mainly Ontario and Quebec and their Job Comparison based on objective factors considering the skills, efforts, and responsibilities that are often under-valuated in jobs performed mainly by women. Great inspiration is also Spain for us and their Job Evaluation System which is very similar to the Canadian one. 
The membership in EPIC will bring us the opportunity to further exchange good practices and broaden the cooperation with countries that have pay equity adopted long ago and have experience, tools and approaches that can help us design the institutional position of Pay Equity and its further development in the Czech Republic.