Proposal by the Socialist Party of Iceland city councilor on wage analysis

An analysis is requested of wage payments by Reykjavík City to its employees and wage payments by the city to employees of companies in which Reykjavík City is the majority owner. The analysis should cover the entire last year and analyze basic wages, regular wages, total wages, and hours worked, where wage payments are categorized by profession (and the relevant department of the city or company owned by the city), gender, age, and origin if such information is available. The following age breakdown should be used: Younger than 18 years (if applicable), 18-29 years, 30-39 years, 40-49 years, 50-59 years, 60 years and older. Additionally, the gender composition of professions should be presented, as well as the proportion of people with a foreign background in professions if such information is available. The goal of the wage analysis is to shed light on how conditions vary by profession and social variables. The Human Resources and Work Environment Department should be tasked with implementing the proposal and seeking external analysts if deemed necessary, such as the Social Science Research Institute (Félagsvísindastofnun) of the University of Iceland. It is proposed that the results then be presented to the City Council (borgarráð) and all professional councils of the city.

A resolution on the revision of the city's equal pay policy was put forward in a mandate letter from a steering group on June 8, 2021, in the Human Rights, Innovation, and Democracy Council (mannréttinda-, nýsköpunar- og lýðræðisráði). The role of the steering group is to propose changes to the equal pay policy so that it better addresses the diversity of the city's employees. The mandate letter states that the work will be based on the objective that all employees within Reykjavík City receive the same pay for the same or equally valuable work, and emphasis will be placed on the importance of examining factors such as origin, age, gender, etc.

The steering group on the revision of the equal pay policy will specifically examine the results of existing wage analyses on the gender pay gap with regard to origin, both explained and unexplained pay gaps. It is also the group's role to gather information on the implementation concerning job advertisements and job interviews and information provided at these stages with the aim of establishing a clear framework that promotes increased pay equality and equal treatment in recruitment processes. The work of the steering group takes into account Act No. 86/2018, on equal treatment in the labor market, Act No. 150/2020, on the equal status and equal rights of genders, and other legislation concerning equality and equal pay matters, in addition to Reykjavík City's human rights policy, Reykjavík City's policy on immigrants, refugees, and applicants for international protection, and, where appropriate, other city policies that may apply.

It is clear that conditions affect people's social status, including how wage income affects sickness rates. Looking at the response to the Socialist Party of Iceland's (Sósíalistaflokkur Íslands) inquiry about the sickness rate of Reykjavík City employees by wage income, the interplay of income and sickness in recent years can be seen. It appears that where average total wages are above 550 thousand per month, there is less sickness than where average total wages are lower. The inquiry concerned how sickness was distributed by wage brackets over the last three years according to income brackets: 0-400 thousand in monthly income, 400-550 thousand in monthly income, and 550 thousand in monthly income and above.Hereyou can see the answer to the inquiry:

To draw a clear picture of the wage conditions of employees working for Reykjavík City, it is important to obtain income data based on social variables, including profession. The ÍSTARF95 occupational classification system of Statistics Iceland, which is based on a hierarchical classification system, should be used. It is proposed that the aforementioned wage analysis by profession be based on at least the first three digits of the occupational classification in ÍSTARF95, four digits if possible.

Analysis of the Gender Pay Gap in October 2020is the title of a report prepared by the Social Science Research Institute (Félagsvísindastofnun) of the University of Iceland for Reykjavík City and submitted on February 3, 2021. The following individuals were responsible for the processing and reporting: Guðbjörg Andrea Jónsdóttir, Guðný Bergþóra Tryggvadóttir, and Sindri Baldur Sævarsson. The report presents the results of a wage analysis. It states that there were a total of 591 job titles in the city, and background information is discussed based on gender, employment rate, nationality, age, field of work, and ÍSTARF classification. Here, it is proposed that the knowledge acquisition be deepened with the wage analysis by looking at the interplay of the factors mentioned in the above proposal and also at associations/companies that are majority-owned by the city.