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Bratislava – The tripartite unanimously approved the draft law on equal pay for men and women. This was stated on Monday after the meeting of the Economic and Social Council of the Slovak Republic by the Minister of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic Erik Tomáš (Hlas-SD). According to him, the law on the application of the principle of equal pay for men and women for equal work or for work of equal value transposes into Slovak law the relevant regulation of the European Union.
“The tripartite unanimously approved the new law on equal pay for men and women for equal work or work of equal value. This law passed through the tripartite without any comments from the social partners, so employers, trade unionists, and the Association of Towns and Municipalities of Slovakia absolutely agree with it,” explained the Minister of Labour.
Erik Tomáš emphasized that the employer will be obliged to introduce a remuneration structure, which means that the evaluation of work will be carried out on the basis of four clear criteria, namely complexity, responsibility, strenuousness, and working conditions. At the same time, other so-called soft skills will also be evaluated, namely social and communication abilities.
“We submitted comments on the law, we are not satisfied, but it is the implementation of European legislation. There is a problem with the position and with the work performed. In the same position there can be and will continue to be differences, because in the same position workers do not necessarily perform the same work,” added the president of the Association of Employers’ Unions and Associations (AZZZ) SR Rastislav Machunka.
According to him, AZZZ sees a problem in the related mandated administration, the submission of which to the authorities follows from the European directive.
Equality in the remuneration of men and women, according to Martina Hoštáka, Secretary General of the National Union of Employers (RÚZ), is already regulated in the Slovak Republic, for example, by the Labour Code or the Anti-Discrimination Act. “From our point of view, the implementation of the relevant European directive should not be problematic. The problem is the reporting and administration associated with the law. This is burdensome for companies. On behalf of RÚZ, we have discussed all the comments we had with the Ministry of Labour,” Hošták underlined.
“Even though in the Slovak Republic we already have in legislation today guaranteed equal pay for equal work for men and women, nevertheless there are several studies that say that this equality is still just a kind of dreamed-of, mythical chimera and is certainly not a reality. Therefore, we are in anticipation, we hope and believe that by implementing the European directive it will be possible to reduce the differences that are a reality today,” added František Gajdoš, Vice-President of the Confederation of Trade Unions (KOZ) SR. (8 December)
“We are not satisfied, but it is the implementation of European legislation. There is a problem with the position and with the work performed.” Rastislav Machunka