Pay Transparency Act

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Basic data
Title: Law to promote the transparency of pay structures
Short title: Pay Transparency Act
Abbreviation: EntgTranspG
Type: Federal law
Scope: Germany
Legal matter: Employment Law
References : 800-30
Issued on: Art. 1 G of 30 June 2017
Federal Law Gazette I p. 2152
Entry into force on: 6th July 2017
Weblink: Text of the EntgTranspG
Please note the note on the applicable legal version.

The Act to Promote the Transparency of Pay Structures - Entgelttransparenzgesetz (EntgTranspG) is intended to enforce the requirement of equal pay for women and men for the same or equivalent work and has been in force since July 6, 2017. The then Federal Minister for Family, Seniors, Women and Youth, Manuela Schwesig, campaigned particularly for this law .

Content of the law

The law expressly forbids direct or indirect discrimination on account of gender with regard to all pay components and pay conditions (Section 3 (1)) in the case of the same or equivalent work. Various instruments are provided for enforcing this prohibition:

Individual right to information

Employers with more than 200 employees must explain to them on their request the criteria according to which they are paid (§§ 10 - 16). This claim can be made since January 6, 2018. Employees of employers who are bound by collective bargaining agreements and employers who apply collective bargaining agreements contact the works council to request information (Section 14), employees of employers who are not bound by collective bargaining agreements or employers who are not subject to collective bargaining agreements contact the employer (Section 15). However, the entitlement only exists if there are at least six employees in the company who have comparable positions. In the event that there was a direct or indirect disadvantage based on gender, the insufficiently paid remuneration can be requested retrospectively.

Operational procedures for checking and establishing equal pay

Private employers with more than 500 employees are requested to regularly review their pay structures and their application for compliance with pay equality (Sections 17-20).

Reporting requirements for employers

Employers with generally more than 500 employees who are obliged to prepare a management report under the Commercial Code must prepare a report on equality and equal pay. In this they should list their measures to promote equality between women and men and their effects, as well as their measures to achieve equal pay for women and men (Sections 21 and 22).

Legislative process

In the coalition agreement for the 18th electoral term of the Bundestag , the CDU, CSU and SPD initially agreed on a threshold of 500 employees for the right to information about the criteria for payment. After the demand from the Federal Minister for Family, Seniors, Women and Youth Manuela Schwesig to extend the entitlement to companies with at least 6 employees, the Federal Cabinet agreed on January 11, 2017 after a lengthy discussion on a threshold of 200 employees for the right to information, the value of 500 employees from the coalition agreement was, however, taken over by employers for reporting obligations.

On March 30, 2017, the Bundestag passed the law with the votes of the parliamentary groups in the grand coalition against the votes of the Greens, with the left abstaining .

criticism

At the public hearing of the family committee, the German trade union federation criticized the lack of collective right to bring legal action in the case of wage discrimination. Although it is to be welcomed that an individual right to information is being introduced in companies with more than 200 employees, women would have to expect professional disadvantages if they sued their employer alone. In addition to the DGB, the German Association of Women Lawyers criticized the fact that the planned Angel review procedures should only take place in companies with more than 500 employees and on a voluntary basis and that these voluntary procedures have not been successful in the past either.

The Greens criticized the thresholds of 200 or 500 employees and called for equal pay to be extended to all companies. Furthermore, they criticized the lack of collective right of action for trade unions. The left also criticized the fact that the envisaged angel review procedures are not mandatory.

The Confederation of German Employers' Associations criticized the law as being too bureaucratic and claimed that the goal of creating better career opportunities for women was not being achieved.

Alexander Hagelüken and Thomas Öchsner researched experiences with the law on behalf of the Süddeutsche Zeitung in May 2018. In companies in which the salary inquiries did not go through the works council but through the employer , particularly few employees asked for fear of disadvantages; but otherwise the law has so far hardly been used. Only the median , which is not very informative, is reported; The employer adds up the basic salary and other remuneration components for each employee in the comparison group, creates a ranking list and only provides the employee with the salary that is exactly in the middle as a comparison value. In addition, only two of the often numerous additional services such as company car or canteen are included. None of the 20 large companies surveyed are planning any fundamental corrections.

literature

  • Anja Klie, Nora Fasse: The new Pay Transparency Act. Recommendations for action in practice . Ed .: Federation of German Employers' Associations. 1st edition. Society for Marketing and Service of German Employers, 2018, ISBN 978-3-944997-07-0 (136 pp., Agv-bs.de [PDF; 1,2 MB ; accessed on April 5, 2019]).
  • Lena Oerder, Johanna Wenckebach: Entgelttransparenzgesetz. Basic comment on EntgTranspG . 1st edition. Bund-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2018, ISBN 978-3-7663-6724-2 (136 pages).
  • Katja Häferer, Matthias Köhler: Practical Guide to Entgelttransparenzgesetz. An overview of the central regulations and their application in practice . 1st edition. Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden 2019, ISBN 978-3-658-25401-8 (73 pages).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Federal Law Gazette . Retrieved January 27, 2018 .
  2. ↑ BMFSFJ - Law for more fair wages comes into force. Retrieved January 27, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Large companies have to disclose wages. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on January 25, 2018 ; accessed on January 25, 2018 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mdr.de
  4. ↑ BMFSFJ - Law for more fair wages comes into force. Retrieved January 27, 2018 .
  5. ^ Daniel-René Weigert, The range of collective bargaining privileges within the scope of the Entgelttransparenzgesetz, Neue Zeitschrift für Arbeitsrecht (NZA) 2018, 210
  6. ↑ Cathrin Kahlweit, Andrea Rexer: Honesty hurts. In: sueddeutsche.de . April 5, 2018. Retrieved May 28, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Entgelttransparenzgesetz (Entgelttransparenzgesetz) passed - it only threatens to damage your image. Retrieved January 27, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Jan Tibor Lelley, Sabine Feindura, Jan Darenberg: The Entgelttransparenzgesetz - Well meant and badly done? An assessment for the practice. In: www.deutscher-anwaltspiegel.de. Retrieved January 27, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Melanie Reinsch: Equal Pay Act - Only half of women benefit. Frankfurter Rundschau, accessed on January 27, 2018 .
  10. ↑ German Bundestag plenary proceedings 18/228
  11. ↑ German Bundestag, hearing: Planned Remuneration Transparency Act assessed differently. Retrieved January 27, 2018 .
  12. ↑ Melanie Reinsch: Equal Pay Act - Only half of women benefit. Frankfurter Rundschau, accessed on January 27, 2018 .
  13. ↑ Melanie Reinsch: Equal Pay Act - Only half of women benefit. Frankfurter Rundschau, accessed on January 27, 2018 .
  14. ↑ a b c d e Alexander Hagelüken, Thomas Öchsner: Who deserves what? In: sueddeutsche.de . May 26, 2018. Retrieved May 27, 2018 .