The measures focus on, among other things, pay awareness, gender equality planning at workplaces, the reconciliation of work and family life and the dismantling of the gender-based division of labour. The Equal Pay Programme takes account of changes in collective bargaining and negotiation activities in the labour market, and it also includes discussions between private sector trade unions about their possible participation in future Equal Pay Programmes.
The objective of the programme is that the gender pay gap is reduced to less than 15 per cent in 2024–2027.
The parties to the Programme are committed to improving the coverage of pay surveys at workplaces, guiding gender equality planning, dismantling gender stereotypes at different levels of education and contributing to a more equal sharing of family leaves, for example. Information will continue to be collected on pay disparities and segregation in working life so that the measures can be targeted correctly.
During the 2024–2027 period, a study of the factors affecting average earnings between women and men will also be carried out under the leadership of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.
Sanni Grahn-Laasonen, the Minister responsible for gender equality issues, considers that pay equality is one of the key gender equality issues in working life. “The gender pay gap has narrowed too slowly in Finland, and women’s pay is still 84.6 per cent of that of men. We must continue the work towards pay equality by using a wide range of measures. The Equal Pay Programme gathers the negotiating parties around the same table and demonstrates their shared intent for this work. The new Programme has also successfully engaged trade unions in the discussion, which is a necessary opening in terms of future measures. At the same time, the Government is working to tackle discrimination based on pregnancy and parental leave that affects especially the wage development and labour market status of women,” says Minister Grahn-Laasonen.
According to the employee confederations, it is good that the Equal Pay Programme continues, because the gender pay gap is still a major problem in Finland. They consider it important that, in future, the Programme be developed to be more ambitious and effective, as this would help to bridge the pay gap more efficiently. Having the unions involved in the Programme as widely and actively as possible is key to the further development of the Programme and the promotion of pay equality, and employees hope that union-level discussions will help to find new ways of participating in the Programme’s measures during the new programme period and in the future.
The employer confederations note that the Equal Pay Programme creates important conditions for reducing the average gender pay gap. “The campaign for a more equal sharing of family leaves agreed in the Equal Pay Programme is one of the best tripartite practical means to reduce differences in the average earnings between genders in the labour market. The measures under the Programme will also help us to gain much needed additional information on, for example, measures taken by other countries to dismantle gender segregation in the labour market,” says Ilkka Oksala, Director of the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK).
Other simultaneous measures to support equal pay
Alongside the Equal Pay Programme, there are other measures underway that are related to pay equality and monitored under the Programme.
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has appointed a working group to prepare the national implementation of the EU Pay Transparency Directive. The Directive includes provisions on, for example, pay systems and ways of increasing pay awareness, and it must be implemented by summer 2026.
The working group on family leaves and gender equality in working life in turn implements the Government Programme’s entries concerning gender equality in working life.
Labour market organisations also have their own measures to promote equal pay.
Equal Pay Programme
The Equal Pay Programme brings together the joint measures of the Government and central labour market organisations to promote equality in pay and to narrow the gender pay gap. The parties to the Programme include central labour market organisations, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and the Ministry of Education and Culture. Equal Pay Programmes have been implemented since 2006.
Link to the Programme: Equal Pay Programme 2024–2027. Programme-based measures of the Government and central labour market organisations (Publications of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health 2024:21)
Ministry of Social Affairs and Health
Confederation of Unions for Professional and Managerial Staff in Finland (Akava)
Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK)
Commission for Church Employers, Local Government Employers (KT)
Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK)
Finnish Confederation of Professionals (STTK)
Office for the Government as Employer
Inquiries:
Lotta Savinko, Manager, Working Life Affairs, Confederation of Unions for Professional and Managerial Staff in Finland Akava, tel. +358 40 5044356, lotta.savinko(at)akava.fi
Teresa Salminen, Special Adviser to Minister Grahn-Laasonen, tel. +358 295 163 109, teresa.salminen(at)gov.fi
Raimo Antila, Director General, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, tel. +358 295 163 094, raimo.antila(at)gov.fi
Johanna Lätti, Senior Specialist, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, tel. +358 2951 63348, johanna.latti(at)gov.fi
Mika Happonen, Ministerial Adviser, Office for the Government as Employer, tel. +358 2955 30272, mika.happonen(at)gov.fi
Ville Kirvesniemi, Lawyer, Finnish Confederation of Professionals STTK, tel. +358 40 681 8312 ville.kirvesniemi(at)sttk.fi
Katja Leppänen, Senior Legal Adviser, Confederation of Finnish industries EK, tel. +358 40 510 8324, katja.leppanen(at)ek.fi
Anne Mironen, Adviser for Health, Safety and Equality at Work, Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions SAK, tel. +358 40 7186421, anne.mironen(at)sak.fi
Heikki Saaristo, Chief Labour Market Adviser, Local Government Employers KT, tel. +358 50 456 7640, heikki.saaristo(at)kt.fi
Timo von Boehm, Lawyer, Commission for Church Employers, tel. +358 50 080 8268, timo.boehm(at)evl.fi
