The adjusted gender pay gap is 0% at Reykjavík City, meaning women and men receive equal pay when comparing adjusted total salaries. This is revealed in a new gender pay gap analysis for the city for 2024.
In October 2024, when the analysis was conducted, Reykjavík City had 10,453 employees on its payroll. Of these, 7,572 were women (72.4%), 2,866 were men (27.4%), and 15 were non-binary (0.1%). Non-binary individuals employed by the city are too few to be included in the salary analysis to ensure their anonymity.
Reykjavík City is the largest public sector employer in Iceland and has achieved significant progress toward pay equity through systematic measures. The city received equal pay certification in 2019, renewed it in 2022, and will undergo a reassessment of its equal pay system this spring. The equal pay certification requires the workplace to demonstrate continued progress year over year to maintain certification. One of the standard's requirements is to conduct a systematic review of staff salaries and benefits to determine whether a gender pay gap exists. The organization must develop an equal pay policy, select equal pay criteria, and define, categorize, and evaluate job values so that the same or equally valuable jobs are classified together. The main emphasis is on providing equal pay for equal or equally valuable work.
No difference in adjusted total salaries
The Social Science Research Institute conducted an analysis of Reykjavík City staff salaries for October 2024. The average difference in total salaries between all men and women at Reykjavík City is 1.8% in women's favor regardless of hours worked and other variables, but becomes 0.6% in men's favor when only accounting for employment percentage. When additionally accounting for personal factors related to education, professional/work experience, skill levels, job categories, variable overtime, fixed overtime, other pay units, and hours of premium/shift work, the difference drops to 0.0%.
Targeted measures have delivered results
The gender pay gap among city staff has decreased since measurements began. The image below shows the gender pay gap in adjusted total salaries for staff in 70-100% positions at Reykjavík City from 1995-2009 after variables were standardized, plus subsequent salary analyses that used comparable methodology.
Important to maintain progress
Targeted actions to promote pay equity, such as internal and external monitoring, management reviews, and continuous improvements, lead to ongoing enhancements of specific aspects of the city's equal pay system. Although Reykjavík City has achieved a virtually non-existent gender pay gap, it remains important to review the system and maintain this progress. Upcoming initiatives include analyzing job descriptions of Reykjavík City staff to examine whether they might lead to gender-based inequalities in salary determination, allowing for appropriate adjustments if such issues are found.
"As the above shows, targeted actions and a clear vision of pay equity as a fundamental aspect of salary determination can lead to significant results," says Lóa Birna Birgisdóttir, Director of Human Resources & Work Environments at Reykjavík City.
Social Science Research Institute's analysis of gender-based pay gap in October 2024.
