Categories: News

Iceland Becomes First Country To Illegalize Gender Pay Gap

It is now illegal in Iceland to pay women less than men for doing the same job.

In a move to solve gender pay gap in the country, Iceland has officially made it illegal for men to earn more than women doing the same job.

With the new law in place, companies and government agencies with more than 25 staff members will be legally required to acquire official government recognition for their policies with regards to equal pay.

Female workers, rejoice! It’s now illegal for women to be paid less than men in Iceland.

Source: Reuters

In an interview with Al-Jazeera, Dagny Osk Aradottir Pind, board member of the Icelandic Women’s Rights Association, shared:

“[It’s] a mechanism to ensure women and men are being paid equally.

“We’ve had legislation saying pay should be equal for men and women for decades now but we still have a pay gap.”

Companies and agencies that fail to comply will be fined.

Source: PA

The equal-pay legislation has earned massive support from the country’s center-right coalition government and party opposition. Iceland’s parliament is presently almost 5% female.

Aradottir Pind further added:

“I think that now people are starting to realize that this is a systematic problem, we have to tackle with new methods.

“Women have been talking about this for decades and I really feel we’ve managed to raise awareness and we have managed to get to the point people realise the legislation we’ve had in place is not working and we need to do something more.”

Although the new law has been first announced back in March 2017 during the International Women’s Day celebration, it only officially takes effect at the beginning of 2018.

It’s a big win for the world’s most gender-equal country.

Source: PA

Iceland has held the title for 7 years running now, based on the survey conducted by the World Economic Forum (WEF). Furthermore, the country is aiming to totally eliminate the archaic gender pay gap by 2020.

Watch the CBS News feature here:

Like on Facebook

Leave a Comment

Recent Posts

March 14th Holiday – Pi Day or Something Else?

Table of Contents: Introduction: The Significance of the March 14th Holiday The Mathematical Marvel: Unraveling…

November 1, 2023

Mystery Of Missing Pages

Who made them disappear? What was the reason? Where did they go? Why? Gather round,…

July 26, 2023

Bees Kill Penguins by Stinging Them in the Eyes

Swarm of bees stings the eyes of penguins in Cape town 60 penguins died from…

November 16, 2021

2000 Kilogram Sunfish Caught Off North African Coast

A massive ocean sunfish measuring 2,000 kilograms was caught on North African Coast It is named Mola alexandrini or…

November 16, 2021

Man Embezzles $57K in COVID-19 Relief to Buy Pokemon Cards

A businessman in Georgia utilized the Covid-19 relief to buy a limited edition Charizard Pokemon card He committed…

November 8, 2021

Florida Man Catches and “Recycles” Alligator in Driveway

Man captures an alligator in his neighbor's yard in FloridaHe uses a trash can to…

November 1, 2021

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience.