This year, women start “working for free” from 11:25 a.m. this Monday until the end of the year. This is information from the feminist newsletter “Les Glorieuses” which denounces persistent wage inequalities between women and men. Last year, this fateful date was set for November 3.
Concretely, women “could stop working on November 6 at 11:25 a.m. if they were paid an average hourly rate similar to men while earning what they earn today, still on average, throughout the year,” notes the newsletter in a press release. This symbolic date and time were calculated from European statistics on the pay gap between women and men in France. This year, women earn on average 15.4% less than men.
“There is real stagnation”
Last year, the salary gap reached 15.8%, which led “Les Glorieuses” to set the symbolic date as November 3 at 9:10 a.m. “We have been doing this calculation for eight years, it varies very little, there is real stagnation,” observes Rebecca Amsellem, founder of the newsletter at the origin of a petition calling for the implementation of three policies public services aimed at promoting equal pay.
“Les Glorieuses” calls in particular for an increase in salaries in professions where women are the most numerous and calls for equivalent post-birth leave for both parents. They also want access to public markets and obtaining subsidies and loans guaranteed by the State to be conditional on “respect for equal pay”, in order to “ensure that the budget allocated by public funds does not accentuate inequalities.
Right to review the pay slips of male colleagues
If “many things still remain to be done”, “two notable advances” have been obtained this year on the question of transparency in terms of salaries, notes Rebecca Amsellem. According to a ruling from the Court of Cassation dated March 8, a female employee can legitimately request the communication of pay slips of male employees occupying positions of a comparable level to hers.
A European directive, intended to force employers in the EU to be transparent to guarantee equal pay between women and men, has also been adopted and will have to be transposed by member states into their national law by June 2026, welcomes Rebecca Amsellem.