Iceland First To Require Equal Pay For Men And Women

Iceland has become the first country to pass a law requiring that women and men are paid the same for doing the same work. “Gender equality benefits all of us,” the country’s Prime Minister, Bjarni Benediktsson, said last week at an International Women’s Day summit in New York. The law would apply to all companies with more than 25 employees, and companies will undergo certification every three years to ensure that their pay policies are in alignment with the rules. In the U.S., women are earning 83 percent of men’s median weekly earnings, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Iceland’s law will take effect in 2020.