News item | 26-03-2025 | 18:15
Employers must take action so that men and women are immediately rewarded. This is stated in a bill that Minister Eddy van Hijum of Social Affairs and Employment has put online today. People can respond in terms of content until May 7, 2025. The bill is the result of a directive from the European Commission on more openness on reward.
In the Netherlands, women still earn less than men. The hourly wage of women in business is on average more than 16% lower than that of men. For the government, this difference in an average hourly wage is around 5%. Even if wages of men and women with similar background characteristics and comparable jobs are compared, differences remain. In business, this wage difference is on average almost 7%. For the government, women earn almost 2% less on average. This is according to figures from Statistics Netherlands from 2022.
Guideline
To promote equal wages between men and women, the European Commission has drawn up a directive. These obliges Member States, among other things, to take measures that ensure openness about reward and that strengthen the legal protection of employees. With this bill, these obligations are included in Dutch law.
With the new legislation, for example, employers must ensure objective wage structures and become more open about the salary and wage differences within their organization. There will also be a prohibition to ask about the most recently earned salary in discussions about employment conditions. Employers with more than 100 employees must periodically report on wage differences. This must contribute to a better position of employees because they gain more insight into (possible) wage differences.
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment will work in the coming period, together with social partners, on information and aids for employers. This is to support employers to meet the new obligations.
Do you want to respond?
You can respond until 7 May 2025 via Internetconsultatie.nl.