France delays new rules aimed at closing gender pay gap

France has missed a deadline for implementing an EU directive on salary transparency, intended to reduce the gender pay gap.

The EU adopted it in 2023 with France’s support, but incorporating its provisions into French law by June proved difficult.

Unions say the main point of contention is establishing equivalence between different jobs for pay comparison purposes.

In the UK, Birmingham faced strikes by refuse workers after the council proposed cutting their pay to match school assistants, who held equivalent employment grades but received lower wages.

French unions warned of the potential for similar action in France.

France faces delay over new rules

Work minister Jean-Pierre Farandou says his department is preparing a bill for parliament to consider, but there is now little parliamentary time for this to be debated and approved.

Trade unions said that, even if the legislation is passed this year, France’s system of mandatory annual wage negotiations means it is unlikely to take effect before 2028.

A 2024 study by state statistics agency Insee found that women in France earn 21.8% less than men over their working lives, while men in identical roles earn 3.8% more than female counterparts.

Comparing equivalent jobs

Pay specialist Sandrine Dorbes, founder of the consultancy How Much, told Les Echos that much of the delay resulted from the early legislative elections called by President Macron.

Ms Dorbes said France’s long-established system of nationally and locally negotiated pay grades should make comparisons between equivalent roles relatively straightforward.

She said: “The directive does not require everyone to know what everyone else is paid, nor does it require everyone to receive the average salary. However, it requires employers to explain how an employee’s pay has been determined and the average salary for that role.”