On International Women’s Day, the government of Iceland announced that it will introduce legislation requiring all employees with more than 25 staff to prove that they give equal pay for work of equal value regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexuality, or nationality.
Other countries, and Minnesota, have equal-salary certificate policies, but Iceland is the first to require the certification for both public and private companies.
On average, women in Iceland earn 14-18% less than men – which nevertheless makes it the best-performing country in the world when it comes to gender parity on pay, according to the World Economic Forum.
Social Affairs and Equality Minister Thorsteinn Viglundsson told USA Today “the time is right to do something radical about this issue.”