Article 14 of the Constitution of Malta prescribes the following non-enforceable principle:
“The State shall promote the equal right of men and women to enjoy all economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights and for this purpose shall take appropriate measures to eliminate all forms of discrimination between the sexes by any person, organisation or enterprise; the State shall in particular aim at ensuring that women workers enjoy equal rights and the same wages for the same work as men.”
Truly, equal pay is indeed paramount for equal economic independence of women and men. To this end, over the past years, much work has been done in Mata to ensure that equal economic independence and gender equality are safeguarded.
Various measures were taken to empower more women to enter and/or remain in employment. The free childcare scheme, the breakfast club, and Klabb 3-16 programme facilitate the reconciliation of work and family life for parents; the Maternity Leave Trust curbs gender discrimination against women during recruitment; and the tapering of benefits and in-work benefits encourage unemployed persons to take up employment or self-employment.
These measures led to a considerable increase of the participation of women in the labour market - 11.5% in the last four years, according to the Labour Force Survey Q2/2017 and Q2/2021 published by the National Statistics Office. Such an increase certainly contributes to increasing economic independence which is essential for self-fulfilment and a prerequisite for women and men to be in control of their lives.
Equal economic independence for women and men and gender equality became even more relevant, in the context of the pandemic, which intensified gender inequalities in various spheres globally. The 2021 report on gender equality in the EU entitled “FREE THRIVE LEAD” provides strong evidence-based information on the matter.
The report correctly states that “Gender equality is a necessity for development in the EU and beyond, for an inclusive post-pandemic recovery, and for prosperous, resilient and fair societies.”
It quotes President von der Leyen when it stated: “In business, politics and society as a whole, we can only reach our full potential if we use all of our talent and diversity. Using only half of the population, half of the ideas or half of the energy is not good enough.”
In this context, this year, the European Equal Pay Day also raises awareness on women's unequal pay conditions in the labour market and on the importance of achieving equality in this regard.
Strengthening gender equality and ensuring equal pay is thus crucial to enhance women’s economic independence throughout the life cycle including during retirement. The Government is thus committed not only to ensure that more women participate in the labour market, but that the working conditions for all employees are fair, just and equal.
To this end, in 2018, the Government announced the setting up of a structure in the Department for Industrial and Employment Relations (DIER) to investigate complaints of unequal pay. Also, in the Budget speech it was declared that discussions will kick off at MCESD level on the implementation of the Work-Life Balance Directive that entered into force in 2019.
Providing full flexibility to workers in the location of work is now becoming increasingly possible. A month ago, precisely on the 1st October, came into effect the Remote Working Policy which consolidates the Public Service’s stance towards work-life balance and facilitates a transition to new realities, increasing digital working flows and developing new opportunities.
We are also committed to expand the free childcare scheme for parents with irregular working hours (working in the afternoon, weekends, and shift workers), as evidenced once again in the Budget speech. This scheme will assist more parents to reconcile their work and their caring responsibilities, empowering them to be more active in the labour market.
Such initiatives seek to enhance the economic independence of more women and men, as well as providing more opportunities to employers and employees to succeed.
Alongside this, addressing the gender pay gap also contributes towards the achievement of equality. The gender pay gap in Malta, despite being less than the EU average (11.6% in Malta as opposed to 14.1% in the EU according to Eurostat), indicates that women on average are earning less than men.
As a result of the gender pay gap, women not only earn less money during their working life, but they are also less able to save and invest for their future. The gender pay gap thus affects women throughout their lifecycle, impacting negatively their earnings when in employment and their pension during retirement. Women are thus less economically independent than men throughout their lives restricting opportunities in their private and public spheres, and increasing their risk of falling into poverty and social exclusion, including in later life.
Various measures, including financial support to pensioners, mitigate such risks. In the previous budget, the Government continued to support pensioners through different initiatives. Particularly around 12,500 persons who reached retirement age, mostly women, who do not qualify for a retirement pension will benefit from an increase of €150 in the annual bonus.
Our commitment to safeguard equal pay is relentless. Yet, in order for workers to detect and prove possible discrimination in pay based on sex, pay transparency is key, since lack of pay transparency hampers reporting of cases on unequal pay and may limit the enforcement of equal pay rules.
At European level, last March the European Commission presented a proposal on pay transparency to help identify discriminatory gender-based pay differences and ensure that women and men receive equal pay for equal work. This proposed directive seeks to establish pay transparency within organisations; facilitate the application of key concepts relating to pay; and strengthen enforcement mechanisms.
The proposal will increase awareness about pay conditions within companies, stimulate debate on the reasons for gender pay differences, and give more tools to employers and workers to tackle pay discrimination at work.
As stated by the European Commissioner for Equality, Helena Dalli, “the pay transparency proposal is a major step toward the enforcement of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between women and men. It will empower workers to enforce their right to equal pay and lead to an end to gender bias in pay.”
The Government looks forward to continue discussing the proposed Directive on pay transparency to strengthen the principle of equal pay.
The Government will keep on working to ensure that the principle of ‘equal pay for equal work’ is being safeguarded and implemented in practice to continue combating gender discrimination in employment.
The famous actress Emma Watson has once said that: “The reality is that, if we do nothing, it will take 75 years, or for me to be nearly 100, before women can expect to be paid the same as men for the same work.” True, doing nothing is certainly not an option. As a Government we will keep working hard to make sure that the principle enshrined in article 14 of the Constution is all the more realised on the ground.