Costa Rica

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The Costa Rican state, through the National Women’s Institute (INAMU) as the entity responsible for promoting and protecting the human rights of women, has developed in coordination with the various sectors of the country a series of national policies whose purpose has been to guarantee the exercise of rights without discrimination, to listen to the voices of women in their diversity, to eradicate all forms of violence against women and to achieve the empowerment and economic autonomy of women, through the generation of their own income and control of assets and resources.

At the national level, the National Policy for Effective Equality between Women and Men 2018-2030 (PIEG) defined axes, objectives and expected results to the year 2030 as a state commitment to women’s human rights and progress towards effective equality between men and women, betting on the reduction of gender gaps. The Policy proposes 4 axes, where axis 3 refers to the strengthening of women’s economic autonomy through inclusive quality employment and the use, access and control of income, where the issue of the pay gap comes into play.

Specifically, we have several institutional programs as well as proposals for changes in national legislation to address this issue. Among them, a bill that aims to introduce an effective control and sanction mechanism to advance in the compliance of fundamental labor rights, particularly in relation to equal pay for work under equal conditions; the development between the Ministry of Labor and Social Security and the National Women’s Institute of a Guide for Labor Inspection with a Gender Approach, as well as a Didactic Manual for its application, which includes infractions related to wage differences; the National Wage Council is in charge of setting and reviewing minimum wages for all labor activities in the private sector, including those in which women predominate; and the National Women’s Institute is in charge of the establishment and revision of minimum wages for all labor activities in the private sector, including those in which women predominate.

In addition, since 2016, the National Women’s Institute has been carrying out the Gender Equality Seal program, as a tool for public and private organizations to review the gaps that may eventually exist between women and men and to implement measures to close them. The National Management System Standard for Gender Equality (INTE G:38) states that “The organization must define and implement policies for granting economic and non-economic incentives, which ensure equal pay for men and women in the organization considering their diversity”.

Being part of this International Coalition allows the country the opportunity to count on the expert support of international organizations specialized in the subject, as well as to learn about the experiences of other countries that have carried out national processes for the elimination of pay gaps, in order to strengthen and provide feedback for the work that the country has been carrying out.

In addition, the Costa Rican government, through the representation of the gender equality mechanism, the National Women’s Institute, offers technical support, experience and best practices identified through the various programs and public policies it has implemented on the issues of women’s employability, gaps in access to and permanence in employment, and particularly those related to the pay gap.