The Bulgarian Fund for Women has officially submitted a critical opinion in Sofia on the draft amendments to the Protection against Discrimination Act, warning that working women in our country risk remaining with lower salaries even after the introduction of the new European requirements. The organization insists on urgent revisions in the transposition of the Directive 2023/970 on pay transparency to ensure that the European rules will work in reality, and not just on paper.
Statistics from the European Commission and Eurostat show that women in the European Union continue to receive an average of about 11% lower hourly wage than men. The main problem is that these differences often remain invisible due to the complete lack of transparency in the formation of income.
The foundation warns that the large gender pay gaps are rarely visible in the basic salary. They are hidden in additional bonuses, premiums, the granting of shares and social benefits. If these components remain outside the scope of the new legal definitions, employers will retain the ability to conceal discriminatory practices.
In its statement to the institutions, the organization insists on six mandatory corrections in the draft law being prepared:
- Introducing a comprehensive definition of “pay“, including absolutely all bonuses and social benefits;
- Exact transposition of the European criteria for determining work of equal value;
- Unifying the definitions of categories of workers and levels in companies;
- A clear and transparent mechanism for calculating the average level of income;
- Guaranteeing the right of employees to discuss their remuneration without risk of penalties;
- Creating a specialized national tool and methodology for measuring differences.
The Director of the Bulgarian Fund for Women, Nadezhda Dermendzhieva, emphasized that without clear legal instruments, the reform will turn into another bureaucratic reporting of activity.
"Equal pay for equal work cannot be achieved without real transparency. The law must give working women effective tools to recognize and challenge discrimination when it exists. Otherwise, we risk introducing European rules formally without them leading to real change," says Nadezhda Dermendzhieva.
The organization expressed its full readiness to join the next expert discussions in order to prevent the texts from being mutilated before their final adoption by the National Assembly.