Pay Transparency Is Here: Are You Ready?

Equal pay for women and men. A sensitive topic, where women usually get the shorter end of the stick. Slovakia is among the countries with the widest pay gaps. In practical terms, women work almost two months a year “for free” compared to men. This is a reality that, as of mid-June, will be confronted with new rules aimed at equal pay.

The new regulation is designed to guarantee women and men the right to equal pay for equal work. Let’s have a closer look at how this should work in practice.

Employers will be required to establish a remuneration structure, a key tool for equal pay. It shall enable assessment of whether employees perform work of equal value, taking into account objective criteria, such as complexity of work, level of responsibility, workload, but also soft skills like social and communication skills.

Employees may request from the employer information on their own remuneration level and on average remuneration levels for women and men performing equal work.

Equal pay does not only concern the basic salary. It covers also other monetary and in-kind remuneration, such as benefits.

But what if an employee finds out that their right to equal pay has not been respected? Employees will be entitled to financial compensation for unequal pay. Compensation must be sufficient to put the concerned employee in the same financial position they would have been in, if the equal pay had been respected. 

The right to equal pay does not mean identical pay for women and men in every situation. It means that any potential differences in pay must be reasoned by objective criteria and must not be based on discrimination. We believe that the right to equal pay will become a standard practice in employment relationships.

By Mgr. Renáta Konštiaková

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