34 Amendments of Henna VIRKKUNEN related to 2021/0050(COD)
Amendment 171 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 4
Recital 4
(4) Article 23 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union provides that equality between women and men must be ensured in all areas, including employment, work and pay, where Article 51 of the Charter emphasises the due regard for the principle of subsidiarity.
Amendment 223 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 11
Recital 11
(11) This Directive should apply to all workers, including part-time workers, fixed-term contract workers or persons with a contract of employment or employment relationship with a temporary agency, who have an employment contract or employment relationship as defined by the law, collective agreements and/or practice in force in each Member State, taking into account the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (‘the Court’). In its case law, the Court established criteria for determining the status of a worker47 . Provided that they fulfil those criteria, domestic workers, on- demand workers, intermittent workers, voucher based-workers, platform workers, trainees and apprentices should fall within the scope of this Directive. The determination of the existence of an employment relationship should be guided by the facts relating to the actual performance of the work and not by the parties’ description of the relationship. _________________ 47 Case C-66/85, Deborah Lawrie-Blum v Land Baden-Württemberg, ECLI:EU:C:1986:284; Case C-428/09, Union Syndicale Solidaires Isère v Premier ministre and Others, ECLI:EU:C:2010:612; Case C-229/14, Ender Balkaya v Kiesel Abbruch- und Recycling Technik GmbH, ECLI:EU:C:2015:455; Case C-413/13, FNV Kunsten Informatie en Media v Staat der Nederlanden, ECLI:EU:C:2014:2411; Case C-216/15, Betriebsrat der Ruhrlandklinik gGmbH v Ruhrlandklinik gGmbH, ECLI:EU:C:2016:883; Case C- 658/18, UX v Governo della Repubblica italiana, ECLI:EU:C:2020:572.
Amendment 230 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 12
Recital 12
(12) In order to remove obstacles for victims of gender pay discrimination to enforce their right to equal pay and guide employers in ensuring respect of this right, the core concepts related to equal pay, such as ‘pay’ and ‘work of equal value’, should be clarified in line with the case law of the Court. This should facilitate the application of these concepts, especially for small and medium-sizedmid-cap enterprises.
Amendment 276 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 18
Recital 18
(18) Member States should develop specific tools and methodologies to support and guide the assessment of what constitutes work of equal value. This should facilitate the application of this concept, especially for small and medium- sized enterprises.
Amendment 299 #
Amendment 308 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 22
Recital 22
(22) Pay transparency measures should protect workers’ right to equal pay while limiting as much as possible costs and burden for employers, paying specific attention to micro and small enterprises. Where appropriate, measures should be tailored to the size of employers taking into account employers’ headcount.
Amendment 329 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 25
Recital 25
(25) Employers with at least 250 0 workers should regularly report on pay, in a suitable and transparent manner, such as including the information in their management report. Companies subject to the requirements of Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council52 may also choose to report on pay alongside other worker-related matters in their management report. _________________ 52 Directive 2013/34/EU, as amended by Directive 2014/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014 as regards disclosure of non- financial and diversity information by certain large undertakings and groups (OJ L 330, 15.11.2014, p. 1).
Amendment 344 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 27
Recital 27
(27) To reduce the burden on employers, Member States could decide to gather and interlink the necessary data through their national administrations allowing for a computation of the pay gap between female and male workers per employer. Such data gathering may require interlinking data from several public administrations (such as tax inspectorates and social security offices) and would be possible if administrative data matching employers’ (company/organisational level) to workers’ (individual level) data, including benefits in cash and in-kind, are available. Member States could decide to gather this information not only for those employers covered by the pay reporting obligation under this Directive, but also with regard to small and medium-sized enterprises. The publication of the required information by Member States should replace the obligation of pay reporting on those employers covered by the administrative data provided that the result intended by the reporting obligation is achieved.
Amendment 363 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 29
Recital 29
(29) Joint pay assessments should trigger the review and revision of pay structures in organisations with at least 2500 workers that show pay inequalities. The joint pay assessment should be carried out by employers in cooperation with workers’ representatives; if workers’ representatives are absent, they should be designated for this purpose. Joint pay assessments should lead to the elimination of gender discrimination in pay.
Amendment 424 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 41
Recital 41
(41) Litigation costs create a serious disincentive for victims of gender pay discrimination to claim their right to equal pay, leading to insufficient protection and enforcement of the right to equal pay. In order to remove this strong procedural obstacle to justice, successful claimants should be allowed to recover their procedural costs from the defendant. On the other hand, claimants should not be liable for successful defendant’s proceedings costs unless the claim was brought in bad faith, was clearly frivolous or if the non-recovery by the defendant would be considered unreasonable by the courts or other competent authorities under the specific circumstances of the case, for instance having regard to the financial situation of micro-enterprises.
Amendment 481 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 2 – paragraph 2
Article 2 – paragraph 2
2. This Directive applies to all workers who have an employment contract or employment relationship as defined by law, collective agreements and/or practice in force in each Member State with consideration to the case-law of the Court of Justice.
Amendment 539 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 4 – paragraph 1
Article 4 – paragraph 1
1. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that employers have pay structures in place ensuring that women and men are paid equally for the same work or work of equal value performed for the same employer.
Amendment 566 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 4 – paragraph 3
Article 4 – paragraph 3
3. The tools or methodologiesAn overall assessment according to this guidance shall allow assessing, in regard to the value of work, whether workers are in a comparable situation, on the basis of objective criteria which shallmay include educational, professional and training requirements, skills, effort and responsibility, work undertaken and the nature of the tasks involved and similar criteria defined in national law and collective bargaining agreements. They shall not contain or be based on criteria which are based, whether directly or indirectly, on workers’ sex.
Amendment 570 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 4 – paragraph 3
Article 4 – paragraph 3
3. The tools or methodologies shall allow assessing, in regard to the value of work, whether workers are in a comparable situation, on the basis of objective criteria regarding the requirements of the work which shall include educational, professional and training requirements, skills, effort and responsibility, work undertaken and the nature of the tasks involved and work undertaken. They shall not contain or be based on criteria which are based, whether directly or indirectly, on workers’ sex.
Amendment 571 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 4 – paragraph 4
Article 4 – paragraph 4
Amendment 599 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 1
Article 5 – paragraph 1
1. Applicants for employment shall have the right to receive from the prospective employer information about the initial pay level or its range, based on objective, gender-neutral criteria, to be attributed for the position concerned. Such information shall be indicated in a published job vacancy notice or otherwise provided to the applicant prior to the job interview without the applicant having toprovided upon request it.
Amendment 606 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 2
Article 5 – paragraph 2
Amendment 617 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 6 – paragraph 1
Article 6 – paragraph 1
The employer shall make easily accessible to its workers a description of the criteria used to determine pay levels and career progression for worker, whereby Member States shall give specific attention to micro-enterprises and SMEs. These criteria shall be gender-neutral.
Amendment 646 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 7 – paragraph 2
Article 7 – paragraph 2
2. Employers shall inform all workers, on an annual basiswithin a reasonable time frame, of their right to receive the information referred to in paragraph 1.
Amendment 661 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 7 – paragraph 4
Article 7 – paragraph 4
4. Workers shall have the possibility to request the information referred to in paragraph 1 through their representatives or an equality body.
Amendment 676 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. Employers with at least 2500 workers shall provide the following information concerning their organisation, in accordance with paragraphs 2, 3, and 5:
Amendment 721 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – point g
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – point g
(g) the pay gap between female and male workers by categories of workers broken down by ordinary basic salary and complementary or variable components. In the case of companies that are bound by and/or apply collective bargaining agreements, reference to the relevant collective bargaining agreement shall suffice.
Amendment 747 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 8 – paragraph 3
Article 8 – paragraph 3
3. The employer shall publish the information referred to in paragraph 1, points (a) to (f) on an annual basievery three years, collectively bargained companies every five years in a user-friendly way on its website or shall otherwise make it publicly available. The information from the previous four years, if available, shall also be accessible upon request. In addition, the employer shall share this information with the monitoring body referred to in paragraph 6.
Amendment 785 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 8 – paragraph 7
Article 8 – paragraph 7
7. Workers and their representatives, labour inspectorates and equality bodies shall have the right to ask the employer for additional clarifications and details regarding any of the data provided, including explanations concerning any gender pay differences. The employer shall respond to such request within a reasonable time by providing a substantiated reply. Where gender pay differences are not justified by objective and gender-neutral factors, the employer shall remedy the situation in close cooperation with the. Member States may foresee that workers’ representatives, the labour inspectorate and/or the equality body may be involved in this procedure.
Amendment 801 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 9 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 9 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. Member States shall take appropriate measures to ensure that employers with at least 2500 workers conduct, in cooperation with their workers’ representatives, a joint pay assessment where both of the following conditions are met:
Amendment 822 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 9 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 9 – paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. A presumption of appropriateness applies to companies that are bound by or apply collective bargaining agreements.
Amendment 851 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 9 – paragraph 4
Article 9 – paragraph 4
4. If the joint pay assessment reveals differences in average pay for equal work or work of equal value between female and male workers which cannot be justified by objective and gender-neutral criteria, the employer shall remedy the situation, in close cooperation with the workers’ representatives, labour inspectorate, and/or equality body within a reasonable time frame. Such action shall include the establishment of gender-neutral job evaluation and classification to ensure that any direct or indirect pay discrimination on grounds of sex is excluded.
Amendment 885 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 13
Article 13
Amendment 921 #
2. Member States shall ensure that, in any legal or administrative proceedings concerning direct or indirect discrimination, where an employer failed to comply with any of the rights or obligations related to pay transparency set out in Articles 5 through 9 of this Directive, it shall be for the employere to prove that there has been no such discrimination.
Amendment 939 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 18 – paragraph 3
Article 18 – paragraph 3
Amendment 947 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 18 – paragraph 3
Article 18 – paragraph 3
3. Member States shall ensure that the limitation periods for bringing claims are set at threone years at leamost.
Amendment 952 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 19
Article 19
Amendment 1057 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 27 – paragraph 1
Article 27 – paragraph 1
This Directive shall not affect in any way the right to negotiate, conclude and enforce collective agreements and to take collective action in accordance with national law or practice. Collectively agreed pay regulations shall be subject to the presumption that discrimination on the basis of gender is excluded. Activities which are assigned to different remuneration groups on the basis of collective bargaining agreements shall not be regarded as equal or equivalent.
Amendment 1084 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 31 – paragraph 2
Article 31 – paragraph 2
2. When informing the Commission, Member States shall also accompany it with a summary of the results of their assessment regarding the impact of their transposition act on small and medium- sizedmid-cap enterprises and a reference to where such assessment is published.