On this occasion we have Sandra Pérez, Labor and Social Security Inspector and Head of Area in the Provincial Inspectorate of Barcelona, specialist in Equality in the company.
On November 7th and 8th we had the privilege of having Sandra again as an expert in a presentation about the Equality Plan and the Salary Register in professional offices, collaborating with our director, Maica Enrique.
Sandra, who has been working for the ITSS for more than 6 years, has both an overview and a detailed view of the actual level of implementation of equality rules in our business environment and the consequences of this level of implementation.
Q: Regarding the Wage Register, at this moment that years have passed since the last update of the norm, what progress do you detect in the obligation to carry out the Wage Register and the Equality Plan?
A: From our campaigns and visits to companies (inspections), the percentage of companies that have completed their Wage Register is higher compared to the Equality Plan. However, the volume of companies that do not have a Wage Register is still very significant.
Q: Why do you think companies are reluctant to implement the Wage Register?
A: In my experience, I find that company managers are a bit apprehensive about analyzing the pay structure in the company: sometimes the thought is "there is no gap in my company and why would I do that? At other times, they simply want to avoid the possible existence of a pay gap.
Q: Because the mere fact that there is a wage gap is already a reason for sanction?
A: No. This is what is possibly not entirely clear:
The existence of a wage difference between the sexes does not mean that there is a discriminatory situation on the basis of sex, as long as there is an objective and reasonable justification for this difference. In other words, not every wage difference between workers of different sexes implies that there is a situation of discrimination on the basis of sex. When there is an objective and reasonable justification for that wage difference, the cause for a penalty has not been generated and the obligation of the company, in these cases, is to identify and report on that cause, in writing in the wage record document.
Q: In your case, do you encounter many situations in which you identify wage gaps that are not accompanied by a situation of gender discrimination?
A: Yes, they happen very often, and the justifications for these gaps go hand in hand with the dynamics of the company due to organizational issues and with respect to positions with different degrees of responsibility.
Q: Are there still cases of unjustified gender-based wage discrimination?
A: Yes, it obviously depends a lot on the sector. Perhaps they are more alarming in sectors where feminized jobs are more precarious.
For example, even today the majority of managerial positions are still held by men, and when they are held by women there is a significant pay gap. This is not difficult to explain: a woman who enters these jobs starts out with less advantageous pay conditions than those granted in the past, when, moreover, it was usually men who had access to these positions.
It is also very important to say that these types of justifications and the reality of the companies are understood, but the fact that the history of the company is what it is, is no reason to justify that, currently, the remuneration policy has discriminatory traces that perpetuate in time a discriminatory salary situation for two people who, occupying the same position and performing the same functions, have different salary conditions motivated, according to the company, by the temporary moment at which each one accessed that position.
This, which seems complicated, is perfectly understandable once we are seated in front of the companies' salary data.
Q: In general terms, are there situations of discrimination in favor of women?
A: Not in managerial positions. This can happen when we talk about professional categories determined by the occupation or job position, when, in itself, it is already feminized. As a very clear example, when we talk about floor cleaners in a hotel.
Q: In your opinion, what would be the most important or noteworthy aspect when we talk about the pay register, and what will the ITSS focus on the most?
A: In salary supplements.
In practice, the greatest pay inequalities are camouflaged in the so-called salary supplements, especially voluntary improvements or other voluntary or personal bonuses (which originate from a discretionary decision by the company).
That is to say, its payment does not respond to parameters established in the collective bargaining agreement or in the company's internal regulations, but its allocation and amount is decided unilaterally by the employer.
Q: Would you say that this is the point that should be more monitored and controlled by companies?
A: Correct. Hence the importance of reviewing the salary structure in the company by making a detailed analysis of the list of salary supplements that exist (especially the voluntary ones) and also checking the criteria established to access them.
These criteria must always be objective and neutral in relation to the gender perspective.
Let's say that a very detailed analysis of all the data is required: in addition to recording the numerical data, the wage register requires an analysis of the causes and whys: where the numbers come from.
We know that sometimes it is not an easy job, but it is the company's way of validating its remuneration policy and making sure that the salary gap that may exist is not based on a situation of gender discrimination.
Q: Finally, the business community is concerned about whether companies with fewer than 50 employees will be obliged to implement an equality plan.
A: Not at the moment.
And back to the grind. Sandra returns to her post in Barcelona, at the ITSS, helping companies to maintain standards in the application of labor regulations.