Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to acknowledge the work of my colleague, Deputy Daly, and Lee Daly in his office, on this Bill. The more transparency around wages the better for all workers as it can help to ensure a fair deal from employers. Pay transparency is also an important tool for tackling the gender pay gap and other forms of pay related discrimination. Progress has been made in the area of pay transparency but more still needs to be done and some of those reasons and the measurements that have been done were outlined by Deputy Daly in his contribution.

This Bill seeks to ensure pay transparency for roles advertised for businesses and public sector organisations. It relies on the provisions of the Employment Equality Acts 1998 to 2015, specifically section 10, which places an obligation on persons not to publish or display an advert which does not include the pay associated with the job. The Bill amends section 10 of the Employment Equality Act 1998, as amended, to include an obligation to publish the approximate remuneration owed to the worker for taking up a contract of employment. What all this means is that no job adverts, online or anywhere else, can fail to include details on pay. It is straightforward and it is a practical step to make pay more transparent. This legislation is an important step in strengthening the position of workers, specifically in the job application process.

Anyone who has searched for a job, especially online, will be familiar with scrolling down and finding where one expects to see a salary instead of phrases such as "depending on experience" or "competitive salary". It is disheartening and the process of applying for jobs can be a gruelling task with many steps to the application. All workers should be able to see in advance what pay or pay range, based on experience, is being offered. This allows people to make an informed decision on whether or not to apply. Workers already employed by the company or in the same sector should be able to see the pay being advertised to new recruits.

All workers stand to benefit from this common-sense change to employment law. However, as was said, this change will particularly help women and minorities to ensure they are being offered the same remuneration at the end of the application process as any other candidate. This Bill will also level the playing field for companies that already provide this level of transparency on pay and it should be noted that most good employers include details on pay. The legislation is making sure that all employers are obliged to follow suit. The truth is that the lack of transparency and asymmetrical information reduces the bargaining power of the applicant and skews the power in favour of the employer. Knowing the salary up front lets a candidate understand whether a job would be financially viable for him or her before committing the time and effort to applying. It shows workers already in the job what salaries are being offered to attract new employees. Leaving the employer to negotiate with the successful candidate on salary after the fact can lead to women, particularly people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and minorities often ending up on lower salaries, and there is evidence to back that up.

An increasing body of research shows that salary transparency is a way of creating more equitable workplaces.

In the third level sector in particular, the working conditions for tutors, lecturers and researchers have been eroded by the employment practices of underfunded colleges. It disproportionately affects women, as was said. There is a particular problem in this country with the labour force and labour force planning. All of the research tells us particularly that women with school-aged children and lone mothers are exiting the workplace because of discrepancies and unfairness within employment and employment conditions. Decisions around women working full-time, part-time or not working outside the home are impacted by all of this. A knock-on effect of this legislation, we hope, although an awful lot needs to be done, is that it will in some way address that issue for mothers of school-aged children. The Bill will contribute to the transparency and fairness of that. It will also impact social welfare top-ups. This Bill should help to reduce instances where working family payments have to be made. It is better for society, individuals and families. It is a simple Bill that will fix a growing problem.

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