Equal pay: a thousand euros less because she is a woman? – Business

The woman and the man did the same work. They had roughly the same work experience and education. They had even started their new job at pretty much the same time – at the metal company Photon Meissener Technologies near Dresden. That was in 2017, the job was in the field. The woman and man even regularly represented each other for long periods of time.

Despite this, Susanne Dumas earned significantly less than her colleague. During the induction period, she received 3,500 euros a month and her colleague 4,500 euros. Later, after the introduction of a collective agreement, he still received around 500 euros more. Bad luck, badly negotiated, said her employer. The company made both of them the same offer when they started, but the colleague asserted his interests better than the female colleague. The labor and state labor court in Saxony had agreed with the employer – with reference to the principle of contractual freedom.

Now the Federal Labor Court has taken on the case – and the position of women in the dispute over equal pay as men has improved. The highest labor judges ruled that employers are not allowed to justify differences in earnings between women and men with their different negotiating skills. Susanne Dumas, now 44 years old, receives back pay of 14,500 euros and compensation.

Presiding judge Anja Schlewing said that if women and men were paid differently for the same work, as in the case under discussion, that would justify the presumption of gender discrimination. According to the judge, employers could not refute this assumption with the argument that the man had negotiated better or that he was prospectively intended for a management job. The plaintiff’s lawyers spoke of a milestone after the verdict. The case could now lead to a landmark judgment equal pay become.

Because Susanne Dumas and Photon Meissener Technologies, her former employer, are not isolated cases. For every euro that a man received in wages in Germany last year, a woman received only 82 cents. The so-called gender pay gap is 18 percent a new evaluation by the Federal Statistical Office. Almost two-thirds of the salary difference is due to the fact that women are more likely to have lower-paid jobs and work part-time more often. The gender pay gap adjusted for these factors, for which there is no comprehensible explanation, is seven percent. Even in comparable jobs and with similar qualifications and employment histories, women earn significantly less than men. The gender pay gap is shrinking, but compared to the other EU countries, Germany is at the bottom. So there are many women who are in a similar situation to Susanne Dumas in Saxony and who should be interested in the verdict.

Studies show that women find it harder to negotiate than men

“I’m not just fighting for myself, but for all women,” Dumas said in an interview with the Society for Freedom Rights. “I also want to show my two daughters that sometimes you have to fight for your rights.” The association supported her in her lawsuit. Women who want to assert their claims against their employer often fail because of the high costs and effort involved. The processes go through several instances and take years. Sometimes, however, associations that see an overriding social interest help. The Society for Freedom Rights wanted the Supreme Court to clarify that negotiating skills are not an objective criterion for unequal pay. “If employers can justify higher wages for men by saying that colleagues would have negotiated better, then the right to equal pay practically unenforceable,” says the responsible lawyer in the association, Sarah Lincoln.

There are various studies that show that women find it harder to negotiate than men. In any case, they negotiate less often. one Opinion poll According to more than 2000 people in Germany, 41 percent of women have never negotiated their salary, among men the figure is only 35 percent. And despite negotiating, 28 percent of women have never managed to get a raise. The reasons for failures or inhibitions in negotiations are complex, it’s about “socially typical behavior,” says the Association for Freedom Rights. “Women’s social role is commonly associated with the attributes of empathy, caring and commitment to others. As a result, women typically find it more difficult to stand up for their own interests with the necessary emphasis in negotiating situations.” In addition, women are often busy in the negotiations with enforcing their rights to part-time work and compatibility with the family and no longer come to the subject of salary.

source site