Since the publication in the BOE, of October 13th, all companies must implement the legal requirements within 6 months.
This sets the scope of the new obligation for companies to proceed with a full salary record.
Salary transparency means that the company’s salary information is accessible and that employees and their representatives can deduce how much is charged individually for each job.
After entry into force of the new royal decree, all companies, regardless of their size, will have to keep a payroll through their legal representatives within a period of 6 months, giving employees access to average salaries, broken down by gender, including those of the managerial staff.
This record will make it possible to observe whether employees are receiving a salary equivalent to that of the opposite sex in the same high-quality position and with a similar required experience.
If the salary gap between equivalent Jobs is more than 25%, the company must be able to provide an objective justification which justifies this. The possible argumentation of the company does not exclude that the existing difference is treated as an indication of discrimination. In some cases, if the argument is insufficient, it may mean that certain salaries need to be increased in order to correct these illegitimate salary differences.
In order to apply this law, the following points must be analysed:
• First, registration requires a review of qualifications guidelines or job descriptions
• There must be an internal occupational classification of the company, identifying the jobs of each company of equal value
• The organization charts of the companies will reflect those employees who are classified on the same horizontal line and who, however, receive different salaries
• Internal company documents such as existing job catalogues become highly relevant documents
• In preventing occupational hazards, factors such as punishment and difficulty of work, forced postures and repetitive movements can be relevant to justify the salary of each position
• And of course the company´s remuneration policy should be reviewed, with a specific analysis of the variable discretionary allowance or bonuses or supplements, the amount of which is due to indirect factors related to stereotypes or roles of women (such as reduced working hours or part-time employment).
Inmaculada Pessini
