Germany: Federal Labour Court strengthens the rights of women on the issue of equal pay

Almost four years after the adoption of the pay transparency law in the country, Germany’s Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht) issued a landmark ruling on 21 January on equal treatment of men and women (8 AZR 488/19). If a woman earns less than her male colleagues in a comparable role, it is presumed that she is being discriminated against on the basis of her sex. It is then up to the employer to prove the contrary and to provide objective reasons for the pay gap observed.
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Pay gap. The law on pay transparency (see article n°10143), which came into force in July 2017, has the stated aim of closing the gender pay gap. To this end, it gives employees of one sex the right to know the level of pay of employees of the opposite sex occupying similar roles within the same company. However, what happens if a woman finds out she earns less than her male colleagues and her employer refuses to increase her pay? This issue was raised by a department manager working for...

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