Companies with more than 50 employees would be required to provide equal pay for equal work as well as what their employees are paid every three years. Companies will have a second opportunity to come into compliance if they fail the first time, and if they fail both times, they face a fine.
Women in the Netherland make 16% less than men, according to Statistics Netherlands. This is partly due to women being more likely to work part-time or in lower-paying sectors.
"The fact that women get paid less than men for the same work is shameful," says SP parliamentarian Jasper van Dijk. "A hundred years after the introduction of women's suffrage it is high time that we put that right. We are counting on broad support for our law. Parties that do not support us apparently want to return to the previous century."
As it stands now, if a female worker wants to prove she earned less than her male counterpart, "you have to break through countless barriers to do something about it," notes PvdA parliamentarian Lilianne Ploumen. "You have to figure it out yourself. That is the wrong way round, and that is why we are turning things around in this bill."