Obligatory company obligation to keep wage registers for employees

Following the publication of Royal Decree 902/2020 of 13^th October, on equal remuneration between women and men, a new obligation has come into force as of April 2021 for all companies to keep a wage register detailing the average values of wages, salary supplements and nonwage payments of their staff, broken down by sex and distributed by professional groups, professional categories, or jobs of equal or equal value, in order to assess whether there is a wage gap between women and men.

This register must be available to the employees, and if they have one, it can be requested through the legal representatives of the employees. When in a company with at least 50 employees there is a difference of 25% or more in the average pay received between one sex and the other, the company must include in the wage register a justification that this difference does not correspond to reasons related to the sex of the employees.

In general, the reference period shall be the calendar year, without prejudice to any modifications that may be necessary in the event of substantial alterations to any of the elements that make up the register.

The Law on Infringements and Penalties of the Social Order (“Ley de Infracciones y Sanciones del Orden Social”) considers that those companies that falsify or fail to carry out this register will incur in wage discrimination as a very serious offence in the field of labour relations, which can lead to the imposition of a fine of between 6.251,00 € and 178.500,00 €.

Dr. Frühbeck Abogados is at your disposal for any questions you may have, or any other matter related to labour matters.

The author of this article is Elena Bello from Dr. Frühbeck Abogados in Barcelona.