Approval by the Federal Congress to elevate substantive equality, which includes the eradication of the gender pay gap, to constitutional status is a wise decision that places Mexico within the global trend.
In an interview with Regina De la Vega, partner at the D&M Firm, she explained that, while Mexico had already taken action to eradicate the pay gap, it now elevates it to the constitutional level and that this is the first step for entering into a different dynamic, already present in other countries such as Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States and even in Latin America
She pointed out that those countries already participate in Gender pay gap reporting, where companies with a certain workforce have to report, once a year, what the pay gap between men and women is, how men and women are appointed in the sense of how many positions they hold in managerial positions, directorship positions, how many in first level positions, and this information becomes public.
“This is the principle that will drive us to have an annual report. Certainly, companies here in Mexico will now have to be ready to face the reality that we still have a significant pay gap between women and men. And there is also the topic of equal opportunities”, she said.
In this regard, congresswoman Gabriela Georgina Jiménez Godoy, of the Commission on Constitutional Matters stated that “historic progress was made upon eliminating the pay gap between men and women, because women’s work is worth the same. This gap is a manifestation of the inequality and discrimination that limits us,
and we are now saying that we will no longer allow that women earn less for performing the same job.”
De la Vega said that in the country “we still have the issue of gender role stereotypes. Comments are made in the sense that a pregnant woman will go home to take care of her baby, or is breastfeeding and those are factors that have an influence at the moment of assigning salaries.”
Approval by Congress is in line with the proposals made by Mexico’s President, Claudia Sheinbaum who goes even further, as the salary gap is expected to be eradicated by 2023, “this is an example of the actions that are already being taken to fulfill those commitments.”
It is worth noting that in February of this year the Department of Labor and Social Welfare issued the protocol for labor inspection under a gender perspective, instructing “all inspectors conducting inspections on matters of any nature (ordinary, extraordinary, verification) to always do so under a gender perspective”; and one of the categories says that special emphasis will be placed on pay equality.
“In this area, it will be sought to accredit that both female workers and male workers that have the same level and position perform equal work and are paid the same salary. And that is also a principle that was already included in the Federal Labor Law and now is simply a reality.”
