The European directive on wage transparency does more harm than good

The European Parliament is voting on a European law on wage transparency. The objective is to eliminate the wage gap between men and women. Geert Bourgeois: “For the N-VA, ‘equal pay for equal work’ is a priority, of course, but mandatory wage transparency will not close the wage gap and does more harm than good.” The N-VA abstained from the vote.

For MEP Assita Kanko, it is particularly important not to link wage differences to gender discrimination automatically. “Of course, the wage gap must be closed as soon as possible, but we must not overlook the fact that many different factors play a role in workplace discrimination, such as the unbalanced distribution of domestic and care tasks as well as insufficient childcare. It is an endless uphill battle for many women, both at work and at home. We must also expose those social causes and tackle them as a society.”

Extra regulatory pressure

Moreover, this directive imposes an excessive administrative burden on our companies without substantially improving the position of women in the labour market. “The EU is thus once again creating a series of transparency, reporting and evaluation obligations, while companies in Europe are already burdened by extreme regulatory pressure which puts them at a disadvantage compared to their global competitors,” says Geert Bourgeois.

Inappropriate comparisons

Finally, this directive can unnecessarily damage the reputation of companies and the working relationships within them. Inappropriate comparisons can cause unnecessary tensions or unfair claims, for example, between employees of another company or those hired in a later, different socio-economic context. Employers must retain the right to reward their employees for their efforts and performance.