Individual pay deals at municipal workplaces

The Association of Local Government Employees' Organisations and Local Government Denmark have asked SFI to examine why there are differences between what men and women earn. The report, which is qualitative, consists of group interviews and one-to-one interviews with a total of 35 persons: trade union representatives, managers and employees. The interviewees were asked about their experiences, thoughts and negotiations with regard to agreeing individual pay deals.
Salary negotiations at organisation level are based on agreements already entered into, and as a general rule these are gender-neutral. Despite this, there are differences between what men and women earn within the same organisation. According to the interviewees these differences occur because men more often than women have a job that entitles them to salary supplements, e.g. they are IT specialists, IT super users, project managers or can operate specialised machinery. Moreover men more often than women receive ‘qualification supplements’ for being flexible with regard to working hours and tasks. Furthermore, there are several examples of situations where a qualification is seen as inherently feminine and therefore does not lead to a salary supplement for women, whereas for men the same qualification is seen as an acquired professional skill that leads to a salary supplement.
The report also shows that salary is very much a private matter at municipal workplaces, and that differences in what men and women earn are put down to women being poorer negotiators than men.