The Supreme Court of India said that ‘equal pay for equal work’, but it is an unambiguous constitutional right
Recently, the World Economic Forum report suggested that it will take at least another century and a half before the gender pay gap will be equal. Here is where it stands right now.
- In a first, the Icelandic parliament has passed a bill that requires public and private businesses to prove they offer equal pay to employees. Iceland ranks first in the World Economic Forum’s 2015 Global Gender Gap Index.
- On the other hand, the United States ranks 45. In 2006,it ranked 23rd. Ironically, the US observed Tuesday as Equal Pay Opportunity Day. On March 27, the Donald Trump administration revoked the 2014 Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces order that Barack Obama put in place to ensure that companies with federal contracts comply with 14 labour and civil rights laws.
- The Supreme Court of India said that ‘equal pay for equal work’, but it is an unambiguous constitutional right. India ranks 87th among the 144 countries that were studied by the World Economic Forum in 2016.
- Since 2007, the gender pay gap in India has been decreasing consistently. While it was at 44.80 per cent in 2007, in 2013, it dropped to 24.81 per cent.
- In 2016, recruitment solutions provider, Monster India, released a report called the ‘Monster Salary Index’ (MSI), which focused on gender pay parity. The report suggested that despite initiatives on equal pay, 62.4 per cent of women felt that their male counterparts had a greater chance of getting promotions.
- The overall gender pay gap in 2016 in India amounts to 25 per cent — a 2 percentage points drop from the 27 per cent gap in 2015, the survey noted.
- Accenture Research also conducted a study that said that much of this gap is caused by the fact that there are more men than women in high paying functional and leadership roles, in addition to factors such as education levels, industry segment and hours worked.
EQUAL REMUNERATION ACT, 1976
In 1976, the Equal Remuneration Act was passed with the aim of providing equal remuneration to men and women workers and to prevent discrimination on the basis of gender
This legislation not only provides women with a right to demand equal pay, but any inequality with respect to recruitment processes, job training, promotions, and transfers within the organisation can also be challenged under this Act
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