EPIC

Side Event: Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value

Submitted by ep_admin on Wed, 03/13/2019 - 05:30

Side Event: Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value

13 Mar 2019

When: 22 March 2019 | 13:15–14:30
Where: International Conference Centre Geneva

Building upon the momentum gained since the launch of the Equal Pay International Coalition (EPIC) in September 2017, the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) (UN ECE, UNCTAD, ITC) and the Permanent Mission of Iceland, in partnership with the EPIC Secretariat, OECD, ILO and UN Women, will launch EPIC in the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region and bring together regional leaders including governments, trade unions, private sector, and civil society to share knowledge, and exchange good practice on how to accelerate the achievement of equal pay for work of equal value.

BACKGROUND
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8 promotes sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including
for young people and persons with disabilities. Equal pay for women and men for work of equal value is central to realizing gender equality and women’s economic empowerment, reducing poverty and promoting economic growth. To sustain SDG 8, there is the necessity to acknowledge the central role played by gender equality (SDG 5) in having a multiplier effect on the accomplishment of all the SDGs, including SDG 8. Therefore, UN Women, ILO and OECD joined forces to accelerate progress towards SDG target 8.5 on full employment and decent work with equal pay, by leveraging expertise across a diverse range of stakeholders through concrete actions on the ground and in workplaces.

OUTCOME
Call to action by key actors to become a member of EPIC and accelerate action to achieve equal pay for work of equal value.

OBJECTIVES

  • Host a multi-stakeholder dialogue to advance the achievement of full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men and equal pay for work of equal value
  • Raise awareness of the persistent gender pay gap in the UNECE region and beyond, as well as its causes and consequences
  • Facilitate knowledge exchange and sharing of best practices among key actors in the UNECE region
  • Galvanise action from key actors to achieve equal pay for work of equal value

PARTICIPANTS
Representatives of government entities including ministries responsible for labour and employment, ministries responsible for gender equality and national statistical offices, employers’ and workers’ organizations, relevant UN entities, the private sector, trade unions, gender advocates from the countries of ECA region.

Download the full programme

Promoting Better Indicators, Statistics, Data and Policies to Reduce the Gender Pay Gap

Submitted by ep_admin on Thu, 02/28/2019 - 05:30

Promoting Better Indicators, Statistics, Data and Policies to Reduce the Gender Pay Gap

28 Feb 2019

An EPIC Technical Meeting

When: 2–3 April 2019
Where: Harpa concert hall and conference centre, Reykjavik, Iceland

The Equal Pay International Coalition (EPIC) invites to a technical meeting on promoting better indicators, statistics, data and policies to reduce the gender pay gap.
The objectives of the meeting are threefold:

  1. To review different methodologies and tools used to measure the gender pay gap, and its implications;
  2. To deconstruct the gender pay gap, with a view to unveiling the unexplained portion; and
  3. To consider appropriate policy measures to eliminate the unexplained portion of the gender pay gap.

The meeting is open to all members and friends of EPIC with recommended participation of equal pay/wage experts, statisticians and policy makers.
The meeting will include a mix of presentations and panel discussions and conducted in English only.

Kindly contact [email protected] in case of interest.

Background
The gender pay gap is a widely used indicator of gender inequality in the world of work, and a frequent measure of progress towards gender equality at the national or the international level. In a simple definition, the gender pay gap refers to the difference in wages between all men and women who are engaged in paid employment. The method of measure often relies on either the average wage among all wage employees (the mean) or the wage that represents the middle wage earner in the population (the median). Both measures provide a simple summary of the wage dispersion among all wage employees in a population. However, in a considerable number of countries, these basic summary measures are not very effective at capturing gender pay gaps due to the difference in the participation behaviour of women and men as well as the fact that women’s participation in wage employment is often lower than that of men.

The gender pay gap is symptomatic of the many challenges, including discrimination that women face before entering the labour market and throughout their working lives. There is substantial evidence to suggest that in the vast majority of countries, both participation and the pay gaps between women and men widen at the onset of parenthood. Far from being a short-term effect, evidence shows that the effect of parenthood during the reproductive ages expands over the life-cycle of women, while men do not seem to suffer the same consequences. Inevitably, such differences in labour market outcomes for women vis-à-vis men can often explain why women are more vulnerable to poverty and worsening working conditions than men. This is particularly the case in emerging and low income countries where women are less likely to find wage employment, and more likely to find employment as own account workers in the informal economy.
Therefore, the analysis of pay gaps must be seen in the broader context of other dimensions of inequality between women and men, including women’s more limited access to paid employment (in emerging and low income countries) and the unequal division of unpaid work within the household (in all economic contexts).

Measuring and decomposing gender pay gaps can help inform policy makers of the appropriate mix of polices depending on country specific circumstances. In most cases, the policy mix will involve action, including in some of the following areas:

  • Bridging the educational gap through STEM studies and vocational training;
  • Reducing occupational segregation;
  • Ending discrimination in pay and ensuring equal pay for work of equal value;
  • Facilitating work-family balance;
  • Setting minimum wages
  • Supporting collective bargaining and formalization;
  • Enhancing pay transparency within companies;
  • Improving data, indicators and statistics.

The Equal Pay International Coalition (EPIC), is an initiative driven by stakeholders committed to reducing the gender pay gap and making equal pay for work of equal value a reality across all countries and sectors, while contributing to the achievement of target 8.5 – By 2030 achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value – of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). In achieving this goal, EPIC realises that different countries will be starting from a different base and that advances in reducing the gender wage gap requires the concerted effort of many actors.

 

Download the full agenda

The Fair Pay Global Forum in New York

Submitted by ep_admin on Wed, 02/27/2019 - 05:30

The Fair Pay Global Forum in New York

27 Feb 2019

Side Event during the 63rd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women

Date: Wednesday, March 13, 2019 from 11:00am to 12:30pm
Where: SAP Office, 10 Hudson Yards, Designers Space – 48th floor in the Leonardo Center, New York

The Fair Pay Global Forum will address how to translate fair pay principles into practice. Fair pay for women and men has been high on the international agenda. There is an on-going international call for immediate and concrete action. The Fair Pay Global Forum will gather representatives from companies, trade unions, NGOs, governments and international organisations to exchange ideas and hands-on strategies on how to achieve fair pay.

The gender pay gap with its underlying causes is a global phenomenon: no country can report a wage gap of zero. There is strong support for fair pay, as an issue of fairness in general, and the readiness to act is immense. Politics and the economy have the same aim: payslips should be fair. Irrespective of this consensus, however, women continue to be paid less for the same work or work of equal value. Therefore, the Fair Pay Global Forum calls for concrete action and the exchange of good practices in order to make equal pay for work of equal value a global reality.

The side event is organised by the FPI Fair Pay Innovation Lab in cooperation with the SAP SE. Members of the Equal Pay Platform of Champions and the Equal Pay International Coalition (EPIC) are invited to take an active role in the discussion round.

Please visit The Fair Pay Innovation Lab website to register for the event.

 

ILO Launches Global Wage Report 2018/2019: What lies behind gender pay gaps

Submitted by ep_admin on Tue, 11/27/2018 - 05:30

ILO Launches Global Wage Report 2018/2019: What lies behind gender pay gaps

27 Nov 2018

The International Labour Office has launched its Global Wage Report for 2018/2019. The report focuses on two main challenges: how to find the most useful means for measurement, and how to break down the gender pay gap in ways that best inform policy-makers and social partners of the factors that underlie it. The report also includes a review of key policy issues regarding wages and the reduction of gender pay gaps in different national circumstances.

Some members of the EPIC Steering Committee provided valuable inputs and comments to the report.

Download the report.

Subscribe to