Workers' representatives are active participants in a joint pay assessment, not merely recipients of the final report. Article 10 requires covered employers to conduct the assessment in cooperation with them. The reasons for category-level average pay differences, where any objective gender-neutral reasons exist, are established jointly by the employer and workers' representatives. The completed assessment must be made available to workers and their representatives, and unjustified pay differences identified through the process must be remedied within a reasonable period in close cooperation with workers' representatives. Recital 43 also states that if there are no workers' representatives, workers should designate representatives for the joint pay assessment.
Jurisdiction: European Union
The Assessment Must Be Conducted in Cooperation With Workers' Representatives
Article 10(1) requires employers who meet the joint pay assessment trigger to conduct the assessment in cooperation with their workers' representatives. This is stronger than a simple duty to inform representatives after the employer has completed an internal analysis. Their involvement belongs within the assessment process itself. Employers should therefore build representative participation into the timetable for defining the assessment scope, reviewing the relevant category-level data, considering possible explanations and developing corrective measures.
Representatives Help Establish the Reasons for Pay Differences
Article 10(2)(d) requires the assessment to include the reasons for differences in average pay levels between female and male workers in each category of workers, where such reasons exist on the basis of objective, gender-neutral criteria. Those reasons are to be established jointly by workers' representatives and the employer. An employer should therefore avoid treating its preferred explanation as conclusively established before the cooperative review has taken place. Supporting evidence may include documented pay criteria, job-evaluation results, progression rules, performance criteria and other records relevant to the difference under review.
The Completed Assessment Must Be Made Available to Workers and Representatives
Article 10(3) requires employers to make the joint pay assessment available to workers and workers' representatives and to communicate it to the monitoring body. The assessment must also be available to the labour inspectorate and equality body upon request. This makes documentation quality important. The assessment should clearly show the required data, identified differences, any objective explanations, corrective measures and the evaluation of measures from previous assessments so that the reasoning can be understood and reviewed.
Remediation Also Requires Close Cooperation
Worker-representative involvement continues after the diagnostic stage. Article 10(4) states that when implementing measures arising from the joint pay assessment, the employer must remedy unjustified pay differences within a reasonable period of time in close cooperation, in accordance with national law and practice, with workers' representatives. The labour inspectorate or equality body may also be asked to participate. A remediation programme should therefore include clear responsibilities, implementation steps and follow-up review rather than ending once the assessment report has been produced.
Where No Representatives Exist, Workers Need Representation for the Assessment
Recital 43 explains that if there are no workers' representatives, they should be designated by workers for the purpose of the joint pay assessment. The Directive does not create one universal EU appointment procedure for doing this. The practical method should therefore follow the relevant national law and practice. Employers should identify this issue early because the absence of an existing representative body does not remove the Article 10 cooperation requirement where a joint pay assessment is triggered.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can an employer conduct a joint pay assessment without workers' representatives?
Article 10 requires cooperation with workers' representatives. Recital 43 states that if none exist, workers should designate representatives for the purpose of the assessment.
Who decides whether a pay difference has an objective explanation?
Article 10 requires any objective, gender-neutral reasons included in the assessment to be established jointly by the employer and workers' representatives.
Are workers' representatives involved in remediation?
Yes. Article 10(4) requires unjustified differences to be remedied within a reasonable period in close cooperation with workers' representatives.
Related Guides
Official Sources
Requirements and practices differ by jurisdiction and organisation. Check current local law, official guidance and professional advice for a specific situation.