Equal Pay Policy

Equal pay policy of the Town of Akureyri

The equal pay policy of the Town of Akureyri is in accordance with the law on equal status and equal rights of the sexes no. 150/2020. It is intended to ensure that equality is observed in all wage and salary decisions.

Salary decisions must be transparent, based on objective criteria and aim to pay employees the same salary and the same conditions for similar and equally valuable work. Jobs must take into account the requirements they make and salaries must be determined in accordance with the requirements of the job regardless of gender. All wage and salary decisions must be traceable and documented. The Town of Akureyri pays wages in accordance with the collective agreements in force at any given time, bylaws and rules of the Town of Akureyri. The Association of Icelandic Municipalities is authorized to conclude collective agreements on behalf of the municipality. The policy of the Union of Icelandic Municipalities is to further develop the job evaluation system SAMSTARF in cooperation with trade unions.

The Town of Akureyri undertakes to:

• Implement an equal pay management system in accordance with the standard ÍST 85:2012, document, maintain and work on continuous improvement and prevention.
• Obtain and maintain equal pay certification in accordance with Article 7. Act on equal status and equal rights of the sexes no. 150/2020 and respond to variations and comments when they arise. To ensure that wages, general rights and obligations of employees comply with applicable laws, bylaws and rules of the municipality and collective agreements at all times and to annually confirm compliance with the law.
• Ensure that staff salary setting and other wage decisions are based on wage agreements and rules established by the municipality.
• Ensure that equality is respected when adopting and implementing rules on additional payments and allowances.
• Classify jobs based on the requirements they make and conduct an annual salary analysis comparing the same or equally valuable jobs to check if there is an unexplained gender pay gap.
• Present the results of the annual salary analysis to the staff, which is available for review, unless privacy interests oppose it.
• Carry out an internal audit of all issued documents belonging to the equal pay management system no less often than every three years.
• Conduct annual management reviews where equal pay goals are set and reviewed.
• Present the equal pay policy to employees and make it available on the website of the Town of Akureyri.

Limits of liability and authorizations

The division manager of the human resources division, in consultation with the director of payroll, is formally responsible for the implementation of wage and salary decisions and makes sure that processes are clear and documented and that consistency is observed in all decision-making in this regard.

• In the cases that have been negotiated in the collective agreements on job evaluation, all new jobs must be evaluated in a job evaluation in accordance with the applicable procedures for the job evaluation of SAMSTARF municipalities and the procedures of the Town of Akureyri.
• Managers are responsible for the appropriate data being prepared for job evaluation and returned to the human resources department within the set time limits.
• Institution managers are responsible for making job descriptions for all jobs and for revising job descriptions as needed, but no less often than every five years.
• Managers of departments and institutions are responsible for working in accordance with collective bargaining agreements, statutes, rules and guidelines of the Town of Akureyri at all times and are not permitted to make decisions on salary and compensation matters that are not in accordance with the aforementioned.

Procedures

Along with the adoption of the equal pay policy, the town council approves the town council's procedures for authorizations for wage decisions and allowances, which shall set a clear framework for the implementation of the equal pay policy. These procedures shall be revised by the town council as necessary.

Equal pay policy is also a wage policy. The division manager of the human resources division is a representative of the equal pay management system, and employees must send comments or inquiries via a suggestion button on the employee website and the website of the Town of Akureyri.

Approved by the town council on August 25, 2022.