Institutions and Equal Pay: Gender-specific Public Policy and Gender Norms

• In Event: Labor and Civil Rights in an Era of Rising Populism

Abstract

One of the most intractable aspects of gender inequality concerns the continuing gender pay divide across sectors and within professions, even though equal pay legislation as ‘beneficial constraint’ has been in place since decades. Reforming formal rules may end officially sanctioned gender bias; however, this will not necessarily overcome all institutionalized forms of bias, especially since organizations and wages are arenas in which cultural images of gender and work are constantly reproduced. Further research is required to understand this complex socio-economic phenomenon, to shed light on what novel advances to close the gender pay gap must entail to enable equality in pay in the labor market. This article analyzes the range of consequences of the novel equal pay legislation by the Icelandic government—the Icelandic Equal Pay Standard. This policy is the first in the world to make companies and institutions with more than 25 employees (on a full-time, yearly basis) prove they pay men and women equally for the same job by obtaining mandatory certification for their equal pay system. This gender-specific policy represents a rare exception to mandatory legislation on equal pay because it shifts the burden of proof from the employee to the employer, thereby forcing companies to create a more transparent system for valuing different jobs. Based on qualitative interviews with human resource managers, trade unions, employer associations and policy officials in Iceland the analysis looks at how this formal ‘beneficial constraint’ interacts with normative values attached to certain kinds of job tasks and characteristics, thereby contributing to debates on how formal and informal institutions interact in the field of equal pay. Moreover, the article contributes to debates on equal pay and comparable worth: if the equal pay principle is to shape social practices, we need detailed knowledge of the institutions that govern these practices.

Author

• Ines Wagner, Institute for Social Research Norway