At work, you may have discovered that you were paid less than your male colleagues in an equivalent position.
What are the possible remedies in these conditions?
Here is advice from an employment law lawyer.
Friday November 8, 4:48 p.m. From this moment on, women begin to “work for free” until the end of the year, according to the feminist newsletter “The Glorious”, which publishes this symbolic count each year. In other words, women earn on average 13.9% less than men, according to European data dating from 2022.
Although this wage gap is tending to narrow, inequalities persist. For equivalent working time and position, the salary gap between a man and a woman is this time 4% in the private sector, indicates INSEE. But what recourse do you have if you are paid less than a male colleague in an equivalent position? Marie-Océane Gelly, labor law lawyer and co-founder of the association “Workers!”reveals the procedure to follow.
Seize the industrial tribunal… well armed
First thing to do: try to find an amicable solution with your employer. “The employer can negotiate an agreement directly with the employee, providing for regularization of the amount of remuneration, for the past and for the future”indicates Marie-Océane Gelly, interviewed by TF1Info.
If this does not work, you will have to contact the Industrial Tribunal (CPH) to assert your rights. At this stage, it is important to provide elements “of a nature to suggest the existence of discrimination”, she warns. These may include bonuses paid, testimonials from colleagues, or even pay slips. A process recently facilitated by the Court of Cassation. Since judgment No. 21-12492.FS-B of March 8, 2023, a female employee can obtain pay slips from male colleagues to prove pay inequality. “Today, an employer cannot take refuge behind the principle of employee privacy, as long as the employee requests communication due to the existence of potential discrimination”says the co-founder of “Workers!”
What repairs?
Once pay discrimination has been demonstrated, “there is regularization for the past within the limits of the rules applicable to prescription”, explains Marie-Océane Gelly. “There may also be damages for harm suffered as a result of the discrimination, and if the employee is still in employment, the employer may review her salary,” she continues. This procedure is not considered “urgent”, the lawyer however warns of a long process, between a year and a year and a half before the industrial tribunal, and up to three additional years if there is a procedure on appeal.
