For the purpose of ensuring gender equality, employers’ obligation to provide equal pay is being specified.
According to “Elchi”‘s report, this is reflected in the proposed amendment to the Labor Code, which was discussed at today’s meeting of the Milli Majlis’s Committee on Labor and Social Policy.
According to the draft, the employer is obliged to pay equal wages to employees performing the same or different work of equal value, regardless of gender. The equal value of work must be determined by the employer, taking into account working conditions, the nature of the labor function, and the tariff-qualification characteristics provided for in the current unified tariff-qualification reference books.
Accordingly, based on the proposed amendment to the law “On Guarantees of Gender (Men and Women) Equality”, it is envisaged that wages will be paid not only for the same or similar work, but also for work of equal value. According to Article 9.1 of that Law, “Wages, as well as bonuses and other material payments made to encourage the employee, must be paid equally to employees working in the same workplace, regardless of gender, having the same qualification degree, working in the same working conditions, and performing work of equal value.”
According to the mentioned article, equal wages are paid to men and women performing the same work with the same qualification degree and the same value. This concept is more limited than the standard of equal pay for work of equal value, because it does not apply to men and women performing different jobs of equal value. Consequently, Article 9.1 is presented in a new wording.