성별 임금 격차 해소를 위한 임금분포공시제 논의와 사례 ― 프랑스 ‘남녀평등지수공시제’를 중심으로 ―

Among the innumerable factors of wage inequality, ‘gender’ is the one where South Korea is ranked the highest compared to major countries in the world. Per an OECD survey, the wage gap rate between Korean males and females in 2019 was 32.5%. This figure is significantly higher than that of Japan, which has the second-highest rate, 23.5%. South Korea government announced the plans to implement the ‘Wage Disclosure System’ and the ‘Wage Distribution Disclosure System’ to resolve the gender wage gap; there has been no further discussion other than that. In this situation, in December 2019, the Seoul Metropolitan Government implemented the ‘Gender Equality Wage Disclosure System’. France, where shares the same concerns as ours and has discussed ways to resolve the gender wage gap, stipulated ‘Index de l'égalité femmes-hommes’ in the labour law to combat against the gap. Index de l'égalité femmes-hommes, being implemented step by step by the size of the company since 2019, provides an evaluation item that can measure if the equal treatment principle is being abided by, makes the companies disclose the quantified index. While it is still not clear that what outcomes regarding the gender equality index disclosure system will be shown; through the new system, French companies have prepared for new disclosure obligations, have recognized wage inequality of female workers, and have made efforts to fight against the gap autonomously; such efforts alone still fulfill the institutional significance of the law. Like France, it is high time for Korea to come up with new measures to mitigate the gender wage gap. Since various factors of labour determine the wage, the wage gap is also determined by various causes. Therefore, analyzing the gender wage gap appropriately is not simple. When implementing pertinent systems in the future, various social causes lowing female workers’ wages, such as women's career breaks and the organizational culture of South Korea, should also be taken into account to prevent the system from remaining a wage-figure-comparing one.