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Icelandic trade unions, the employers’ confederation and government officials have developed an equal pay management system called “The Equal Pay Standard” that will help employers prevent salary discrimination.

In 2018, legislation was passed mandating companies and institutions in Iceland with 25 or more employees to implement the Equal Pay Standard, and undergo an audit and receive certification that they offer equal pay for work of equal value. Employers are expected to renew their equal pay certification every three years.

  • ÍST 85:2012 (e). Questions and Answers on equal pay certification. Government Offices of Iceland, Iceland. 2018.
    Website set up by the Icelandic Ministry of Welfare provides useful information on equal pay certification. Included in the information on the website is a general information sheet on equal pay certification, “Questions and Answers on equal pay certification”; “Act on Equal Status and Equal Rights of Women and Men, No. 10/2008”; and “Regulation on the Certification of Equal Pay systems of companies and institutions according to the ÍST 85 Standard, No. 1030 of 13 November 2017” as well as rules on the use of the Equal Pay Symbol.
  • Certified Equality: The Icelandic Equal Pay Standard. Ines Wagner and Anne Skekvik Grødem. Institute for Social Research, Norway. 2018.
    A report reviewing the Equal Pay Standard, prepared by the Norwegian Institute for Social Research, commissioned by the Norwegian government. The most important sources in the project were policy documents and evaluations from Iceland, and interview with key Icelandic informants. The authors aimed to interview representatives of the social partners and employees in public administration, and also to find critical voices. The aim was to discuss which problems the standard solves, which problems it does not solve, and which problems – if any – it creates, and to make this discussion relevant for a Norwegian audience. Available in English and Norwegian.
  • Iceland: Equal pay certification legalised. Stefán Ólafsson. ESPN Flash Report 2017/55, European Commission. 2017.
    An introduction to the Equal Pay Standard and Icelandic legislation mandating equal pay certification for companies with 25 or more employees. Gives an overview of the political situation in Iceland which allowed the legislation passage, as well as a short outlook and commentary about possible effects.
  • Certified: Feminist! Using Bureaucracy to Achieve Radical Change. Brynhildur Heiðar- og Ómarsdóttir and Maríanna Traustadóttir. Meta Dekleta, Slovenia. 2015.
    An article written about the equal pay standard and its importance to the women’s movement by Maríanna Traustadóttir and Brynhildur Heiðar- og Ómarsdóttir. Maríanna is the gender equality officer at the Icelandic Confederation of Labor and a member of the committee which created the equal pay standard.
  • Equal Pay Management System ÍST 85:2012. Ministry of Welfare, Iceland. 2012.
    A general introduction to the equal pay standard, prepared by the Icelandic Ministry of Welfare. Note, that this information sheet was prepared when the standard was still voluntary.
  • Iceland a Step Closer to Equal Play. Marie Preisler. Nordic Labour Journal, Norway. 2014.
    An article written about the equal pay standard for the Nordic Labour Journal, with an interview with Þorsteinn Víglundsson, the Director General for the Confederation of Icelandic Employers.

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