In two years, the EU directive on equal remuneration for employees of both sexes in the same positions will come into force. Entrepreneurs will be required to publish salary information so that their employees know what the salary is in their job category. Experts, however, urge not to disclose data on the earnings of specific people in order to comply with requirements for the protection of personal data, reports Rus.Lsm.lv with reference to Latvian Radio. The directive will also help employers themselves better understand what type of positions they have in their enterprises and what are the salary levels, says Anita Segliņa, head of HR at SEB banka. And the employees themselves will have the legal right to demand from the employer and receive information about the salary range in a separate job category (when performing the same job duties). Seglinya predicts that this will make the situation more transparent and allow employees to more easily discuss the issue of work volume and salary increases. Anta Praneviča, member of the board and leading consultant at Figure Baltic Advisory, said that the company regularly conducts research on salaries, and now the overall gender gap in earnings between men and women is 17% – in favor of men. However, when it comes to remuneration for work that is identical in position and volume, the gap is smaller – 5.1%. And although it is impossible to evaluate such a criterion as the correspondence of a person’s qualifications to a position, it is clear that it cannot be said that women are on average 5.1% less qualified, the specialist explains. According to Anta Pranevichi, the publicity of official salaries at enterprises will encourage employees who want to earn more not to submit their resignations immediately, but first to contact their own employer and discuss whether there are opportunities for a career change in the same company. But the red line here, in her opinion, is the disclosure of salaries of specific employees. This line should not be crossed.
