The role of the collective agreement as an instrument of remuneration transparency

Abstract

Pay transparency is an information disclosure mechanism that aims to reveal gender bias or discrimination in pay practices with the intention of highlighting the gender gap and finding measures to narrow or close it. In doing so, it contributes to the effective application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value. International, European and Spanish legislation has identified different instruments of pay transparency, among which the collective agreement stands out, because it is the essential and most important tool for determining professional classification systems and pay levels and systems, as well as for establishing the pay structure. It is therefore the collective agreement that is responsible for listing and defining the jobs that are adequately valued in a gender-neutral way, as well as for setting wages and determining their different components with objective, neutral and non-discriminatory criteria. This study analyses the virtuality of collective bargaining intervention, its necessary avenues of action and the challenges it must face in order to achieve not only equivalent wages for work of equal value, but also decent and upwardly homogenised wages.