The wage inequalities between women and men are reduced very little. It is urgent to apply the legal principle of an equal salary for work of equal value, by comparing jobs with female and male predominance, in business or during the negotiations of professional classifications of the branch.
The problem
We still too often look at the remuneration gap between men and women in the same professional situations, for the same productive characteristics – in equal position – in order to measure wage discrimination “ All other things being equal ». Now we know that women and men rarely occupy the same jobs, professional segregation is important and persists. We thus compare too rarely the remuneration of comparable trades, between very strongly feminized jobs (for example midwife) and highly masculinized jobs (for example hospital engineer) (Lemière, Silvera, 2023).
However, since 1972, the law provides for equality of remuneration between women and men: “ Any employer ensures, for the same work or for a work of equal value, equality of remuneration between women and men (Article L 3221-2 of the Labor Code).
This principle should make it possible to implement the equal salary between different jobs, with female predominance and male predominance, but deemed of equal value. It goes beyond the problem of professional segregation between women and men, equal salary that does not only pass through the mix of jobs. The law requires to assess the value of the work actually carried out and to apply the equal salary for jobs of comparable value. However, this principle remains inappropriate, not measured, uncontrolled and not sanctioned.
The proposal
Evaluate with non -discriminating criteria jobs, compare those with female predominance and male predominance and revalue wages to apply the principle “ an equal salary for work of equal value », In particular during branch negotiations on professional classifications.
How does it work
At the center of the principle “ an equal salary for work of equal value The question of the value of jobs is asked. Since the Roudy law of 1983, the legal framework specifies: “” are considered as having an equal value, the work which requires a comparable set of professional knowledge devoted by a title, a diploma or a professional practice, of capacities arising from the experience acquired, of responsibilities and of physical or nervous load “(Article L. 3221-4). The determination of value can be two approaches:
An individual approach, by comparing with the criteria of the Roudy law two feminized and masculinized professions. For example, in 2010, case law acted equality between a human resources manager and a financial director after having compared the reality of the work of one and the other.
A collective approach, by analyzing the methods for rating jobs and professional classification grids. These grids, negotiated in professional branches, assess jobs and prioritize them in order to determine basic wages. Different works (defender of rights 2013, council superior to equality, 2017) have shown the risks of indirect discrimination of these methods, generating a salary undervaluation of feminized jobs. It is therefore important to revise the criteria for evaluating, weighting and rating jobs, to remove all sexist discrimination biases.
On what research work is the proposal founded ?
Three types of research can be mentioned here. “
On the one hand, work on equal pay and the under-assessment of feminized professions determine the factors of wage inequality between women and men and debates on the measurement of wage discrimination, in particular by showing the limits of approaches all other things (Silvera, 2014, Lemière, Silvera, 2010, Blanchard, Pioch, 2021).
On the other hand, the question of the evaluation of work has given rise to various works, internationally and foreign experiments, especially in Quebec (BIT2008, Acker, 2010, Chicha, 2011).
Finally, job comparisons have been carried out (Silvera, contact, 2023) in order to show the undervaluation of feminized professions, in particular due to the sexist biases of evaluation methods (defender of rights 2013, council superior to equality, 2017). This undervaluation is also analyzed by the invisibility of professional skills of feminized professions, considered as “ natural and feminine (Molinier, 2011). For example, the comparison of midwives with the hospital engineers that we have carried out concludes that undervaluation of work, wages and quarries of midwives (Lemière, Silvera, 2023).
How to implement the proposal ?
The implementation differs depending on whether the approach is individual or collective.
It is first necessary to encourage women to dare to compare themselves within their business with different and more masculinized professions. The European directive 2023/970 of May 10, 2023 on the wage transparency that France must be transposed before 2026, it can be an important lever. In addition to the easier access to the salary data of colleagues, this text strengthens the principle of an equal salary for work of equal value and encourages the evaluation and comparison of jobs. In addition, the union action can help support employees, individually or within the framework of a group action if different employees of the same profession would require the revaluation of their salary.
In a more collective and structural way, during branch negotiations, professional classifications should be revised in order to correct any bias of indirect discrimination.