March 17, 2025
The government and social partners' task force on equal pay and equality in the labor market, which was appointed by Prime Minister Katrína Jakobsdóttir at the end of 2021, has submitted a report . The task force was appointed with the aim of establishing a development project on assessing the value of jobs in order to eliminate the pay gap that is explained by the gender division of the labor market and the systematic undervaluation of traditional women's jobs.
Four public institutions participated in the development project in question, which was carried out in collaboration with the Equal Pay Agency and aimed, among other things, to achieve a broader approach to job evaluation than has previously been done by the state. The Equal Pay Agency developed a framework for a job evaluation system for the benefit of equal pay, which the action group proposes should be fully developed in collaboration with participating institutions and jobs evaluated based on it.
The action group's proposals are as follows:
- Work will continue with the four participating institutions in the ongoing evaluation of all jobs and a salary analysis will be conducted. The goal will be, among other things, to estimate the cost of adjusting groups if necessary.
- A collaborative project on a comprehensive valuation system will be established, initially involving government agencies. The project is an important long-term project that requires the participation of those parties who are most familiar with and have experience with such systems in Iceland and abroad.
- The Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour and the social partners should establish a working group with the role of developing a negotiation process based on the New Zealand model, with the task force of a government mediator. This involves establishing an accessible negotiation process to discuss individuals' equal pay claims.
- The ministries, social partners and the Equal Pay Office will work together to develop tools and education that support collaborative projects on a comprehensive value assessment system.
"I very much welcome the progressive work that has been done at the level of the action group and consider the follow-up to the proposals presented in the report to be a necessary next step to eliminate the gender pay gap that remains in the labor market," says Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir.
The Equal Pay Agency welcomes this milestone and the plans of the government and social partners to eliminate the gender pay gap with an emphasis on job evaluation.
Well-attended morning meeting on cooperation between municipalities on equal pay issues
The gender pay gap and municipalities' experiences with using job evaluation to combat it were discussed at a morning meeting on municipal cooperation on equal pay issues held at Hotel Reykjavík Natura on Monday, February 20, 2023. The meeting was well attended by municipal employees and union representatives, with about 50 people attending the local meeting and about 80 people watching the meeting live.
It is therefore clear that the debate on equal pay is on the right track, as equal pay is still a long way from being achieved in this country. According to Statistics Iceland's figures on the gender pay gap for 2021, the pay gap was measured at 13.9% in the general labor market, 10% among state employees and 6.1% among municipal employees. Municipalities stand out in this regard and their unique position can be attributed, at least in part, to the use of a job evaluation system when setting the basic salary for most municipal jobs. The meeting discussed this unique position of municipalities, the history of the job evaluation system and the emergence of the Equal Pay Office, as well as discussing the impact of job evaluation and valuation systems in general on the gender pay gap.
Inga Rún Ólafsdóttir , Head of the Compensation Department at the Association of Icelandic Municipalities and a member of the board of the Equal Pay Office, discussed the cooperation of municipalities in equal pay issues, including through the implementation and operation of the SAMSTARFS job evaluation system and its success. Lóa Birna Birgisdóttir , Head of the Human Resources and Work Environment Department of the City of Reykjavík and Chair of the Board of the Equal Pay Office, took over where Inga Rún's presentation was skipped, and discussed how the cooperation of municipalities in equal pay issues has been expanded and strengthened with the establishment of the Equal Pay Office. She discussed the role of the Equal Pay Office and its projects and put them in context with the unique situation of the municipalities.
Helga Björg O. Ragnarsdóttir, Executive Director of the Equal Pay Agency, then discussed job evaluation and other value assessment systems as a means to equal pay. She discussed the interaction between value assessment systems and the equal pay standard and the relationship between different wage setting models and job evaluation and the gender pay gap. Rósa Björk Bergþórsdóttir , Team Manager of the Job Evaluation Project Agency, discussed in her presentation the activities of the Job Evaluation Project Agency and the work and procedures in connection with job evaluation. She then outlined the education and advice that the program agency offers and encouraged employees of municipalities and unions to seek education and advice from them. Arna Jakobína Björnsdóttir, chairwoman of the Kjalar Union of Public Service Employees, discussed the value of job evaluation in setting salaries and reminded, among other things, that in order for the job evaluation system to serve its goals of equal pay, it is necessary to ensure that the system develops in line with job developments and that care is taken when creating job descriptions and defining jobs.
Finally, Harpa Hrund Berndsen, a specialist in the Human Resources and Work Environment Department of the City of Reykjavík, discussed the development of the gender pay gap in the City of Reykjavík over the past almost three decades and the impact of job evaluation on that development.
Heiða Björg Hilmisdóttir, chairwoman of the Association of Icelandic Local Authorities and city councillor, chaired the meeting and used the opportunity to encourage municipalities to continue their focused work on gender pay equality and to be a role model for other employers by closing the pay gap at the municipal level.
