Creating Momentum for Fair Pay: Assessing Policies with Leverage

“Danone launched, in 2017, One Planet One Health, a frame of action that reflects its strong belief that people’s and the planet’s health are interconnected. This frame of action drives our approach to doing business, with a strong focus on local relevance and anchoring with our purpose of bringing health through food to as many people as possible. Inclusion, Equity and Diversity is part of our 2030 Company Goals. It resonates with our Brands, creating an impact inside and outside Danone together with our partners. Pay Equity for All is one of our ambitions in our Global 2025 Inclusion, Equity and Diversity roadmap. We have started to publish our gender pay gap as part of our integrated annual report. It is also one of the key performance indicators being tracked in our Entreprise à Mission reporting. Danone, within all of its countries, ensures equal pay for women and men with the objective of a gap within a range of equity plus or minus 3 points. The 2020 female-to-male ratio is 96.8 globally, in line with the Company’s ambition”.
In June 2020, Danone became the first publicly listed company to adopt the Entreprise à Mission status created by the French Pacte law in 2019. The status was officially embedded in Danone’s Articles of Association and registered in July 2020. An Entreprise à Mission is defined as a company whose objectives in the social, societal, and environmental fields are aligned with this purpose and set out in its by-laws.
Under new Chairmanship – the Government of Canada – EPIC’s Steering Committee met virtually for three hours on Thursday 17th February 2022, to deliberate a range of far-reaching issues. The meeting started with a discussion on the progress made and challenges experienced, in implementing the 2021 Plan of Work. Notably EPIC welcomed six new members in 2021, but regrettably, as a result of the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic, two of its smaller members were forced to cease operations.
Representatives from the governments of Canada, Egypt, Iceland, Jordan, New Zealand, Panama, South Africa and Switzerland, as well as representatives from the International Organisation of Employers and the International Trade Union Confederation shared highlights of their own work to reduce the gender pay gap. They also discussed the following matters and provided appropriate guidance to the Secretariat on the way forward:
• Governnance of EPIC;
• Expanding EPIC’s membership;
• Recognition of EPIC good practices;
• EPIC’s plan of work for 2022; and
• Funding gaps.
Finally, Steering Committee members discussed possible topics of interest for the forthcoming online community sharing portal. This portal will provide EPIC members with a space to express views, experiences and ideas on how to tackle the gender pay gap, and follow ongoing exchanges.
Join Rakesh Patry, Director General, of International and Intergovernmental Labour Affairs, for the Government of Canada’s Department of Employment and Social Development, and Chair of the Equal Pay International Coalition (EPIC) to learn more about equal pay for work of equal value, and his vision for the world’s only global coalition which stands united against the gender wage gap.
In this video, English, Spanish and French subtitles are available for your convenience.