Same pay for the same work

The same basic pay must be paid for the same work. Neither collective agreements nor local agreements can be used to allow paying different salaries or wages to people doing the same job at the same workplace.

The Act on Equality between Women and Men prohibits a pay gap between different genders. An unfounded pay gap is also not allowed between persons of the same gender. A difference in pay must always be based on an acceptable reason, such as the difficulty level of the work tasks.

An unfounded pay gap must always be rectified, and the unpaid compensation can be claimed retroactively. If the reason for the pay gap is, for example, a business acquisition, the employer is allowed a reasonable amount of time to rectify the pay gap (harmonization of pay). In such cases, differences in pay are allowed for a while, but not permanently.

If a colleague of yours doing the same job or as demanding tasks as you has a better basic pay or job-specific pay than you, please contact your union representative. The union representative can review the grounds for the pay gap.