French President Emmanuel Macron today marked International Women’s Day with a pledge to “name and shame” companies that pay women less than men for the same work.
On a visit to a Paris-based property management firm hailed as a model of gender equality, he announced plans to “drastically” increase inspections of companies to ensure they complied with a law requiring equal pay for equal work.
“We will put in place a ‘name and shame’ system to make public (the names of) companies that least respect the law,” said Macron, who has made tackling sexism a key priority.
“No one wants to be bottom of the class on this issue,” he said.
The World Economic Forum last year ranked France 11th out of 144 countries for gender equality but a dismal 129th for wage equality for similar work.
According to AFP News Agency, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe yesterday announced plans to get tough on companies that pay women less.
Companies found to have “unjustified” disparities will have three years to rectify the situation or face fines of up to 1 per cent of their wage bill, Philippe said.
