Germany: agreement on law for equal pay between men and women

After years of discussions, the heads Germany’s coalition parties reached an agreement yesterday on a law to close the gender pay gap (Entgeltgleichheitsgesetz). Under the new law, employees at companies with more than 200 employees (and not 500 as previously) will have the right of information on company pay. Joint-stock companies with more than 500 employees will be obliged to publishe an annual report on their pay structures. Voting on the law will take place before the end of the year, with its impact set to be felt by almost 14 million workers.
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The end of a long dispute. Germany’s parliamentary conciliation committee met yesterday, on Thursday 6 October, to resolve issues on which there are divisions within the coalition. The draft bill on equal pay, put forward in December last year (see article n°9410) by Manuela Schwesig — the minister for family affairs, from the Social Democratic Party — was one of the subjects discussed. According to figures from Eurostat, the pay gap between men and women stands at 21.6%. Some comparative studi

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