by Paula Määttä

IV. Finland

C. Measures for determining and promoting pay equality

1. Permitted grounds for wage differentials

The Equality Act prohibits the paying of different wages to women and men employees for the same work or work of equal value. It does not define the circumstances in which different wages may be paid. However, it seems to be accepted that wages will be affected by the content of the work, the working conditions, the length of the employment relationship and, particularly in the public sector, where the work is done. Reassessment of jobs also permits wage differentials. (Heikkerö et al. 1993, 67.)

2. Instruments used to promote equality

Job evaluation

The Equality Act does not set out the grounds for determining whether jobs are of equal value. The Finnish equality authorities have emphasised four factors for defining the equal value of jobs: education and training, occupational experience, working conditions and responsibility. They have stressed the importance of not over-estimating the difficulty factors which are characteristic of male-dominated fields, and correspondingly underestimating those characteristics of female-dominated fields when comparing jobs. (Heikkerö et al. 1993, 67-69.)

Job evaluation is used to determine whether different jobs are of equal value in the particular field. The employer cannot be obliged to use job evaluation methods because the Act lacks the criteria for defining jobs. For this reason, neither systematic job classification systems nor the principle of equal pay are mentioned in collective agreements. (Pimiä 1992, 68.)

The central labour market organizations established the working group on job evaluation in 1990. Its task was to research existing evaluation systems, to come up with proposals on developing these systems (paying particular attention to female-dominated fields and duties) and to assessthe potential for complex evaluative comparisons between different sectors of the economy.

According to the working group, job evaluation aims to achieve a mutually agreed and accepted pay criterion that is deemed to be fair. The working group drew up a framework of job requirements which take account of skill, responsibility, effort and working conditions. These are based in turn on nine subfactors: knowledge, physical skills, problem-solving skills, interaction skills, financial responsibility, responsibility for people, mental and emotional stress, physical stress and working conditions.

The working group proposed some measures for putting the use of job evaluation into effect. It proposed measures to introduce job evaluation systems in various spheres of working life, such as sector-specific pay provisions, job evaluation systems for each contract sector, and the use of job descriptions as a basis for job evaluation. The working group stressed the importance of cooperation between the labour market parties and research promoting analytical job evaluation.

The working group subsequently commissioned a pilot study aimed at testing its job requirement framework, which was completed in 1993. The results showed that the chosen job evaluation factors could be applied to different sectors, that the jobs of women and men were equally demanding in both the public and the private sectors, that job descriptions were important, and that job evaluation was a suitable tool for promoting equal pay between the sexes.

Equality allowance

Employers and trade unions can also take action to increase womens pay directly. In Finland the comprehensive agreement on economic and labour market policy, signed in 1988, included for the first time a special "equality allowance" intended to reduce the imbalances in pay between women and men. The size of the equality allowance is determined on the basis of the predominance of female employees in each employment sector. The decision on how it should be distributed, however, is left to each sector. (Martikainen & Yli-Pietilä 1992, 226-228, 253.)

The equality allowance is divided roughly among four groups:

(i) Women only

(ii) Low-pay occupations

(iii) Female-dominated occupations

(iv) All employees within the scope of the Agreement.

The equality allowance has somewhat reduced the wage differential between women and men, particularly in the local sector where the equality allowance and other agreement-basedincreases targeted at female-dominated sectors have reduced the pay inequality between women and men^.

Equality plan

The other type of procedure of the labour market parties is the implementation of voluntary plans designed to promote equality between men and women. According to the Act, a plan can be drawn up, but there is no compulsion to introduce such a measure. Such a plan might include, for example, measures aimed especially at bringing more women into managerial positions, or reformed criteria for the classification of jobs. (Heikkerö et al. 1993, 75.)

3. Scope of comparison

The equal pay provisions in the Equality Act can only be applied to workers employed by the same employer. Comparison can be performed within the whole concern and need not be limited to a single organisation of that concern. In principle, this means that the Government, the municipality or a group of companies can be considered as single employers. The different occupational groups employed by these employers can thus be compared under the equal pay provisions. (Pimiä 1992, 67-68.)

Wages paid to the employees by the employer can be compared with each other. Firstly, it is possible to compare wages between employees doing the same work and secondly, between employees doing work of equal value. In practice, the comparison of jobs usually involves only wages of those performing the same work, as determined by the collective agreement binding on the employer. The comparison of different jobs is considered problematic, and usually this comparison has not been made. This wage comparison is allowed within actual wages, not hypothetical wages, which means that the comparison is possible only in the presence of an actual male comparator. (Bruun & Koskinen 1986, 131, 135.)