Equality practices have become increasingly important across various national contexts although their form varies extensively due to legal, institutional and cultural reasons. One practice that is developing is the use of indices and publicly available statistical measures quantifying pay gaps across different groups of workers. This represents a move away from relying on complex and sometimes opaque equality practices at work that are difficult to validate and evaluate in the long term. Instead, indices and quantifiable measures ensure that the outcomes and impact of strategies are visible and the extent of ongoing problems understood.
In France, one of the countries in our ESRC-funded project on equality at work, the Gender Equality Index (Index de l’égalité professionnelle) was introduced in 2019 and requires all organisations with more than 50 employees to calculate and publish their scores on the gender pay gap every year. The Index provides greater pay transparency and goes further than just focusing on pay gaps by trying to measure systemic inequalities. Yet, according to existing surveys and emerging results from our research the calculation and use of the Index by employers have had mixed results.
The 100-point Index is made up of 4 or 5 indicators, depending on whether the organisation has fewer or more than 250 employees. Most of the data to be taken into account is contained in the organisation’s economic and social database, the BDESE (base de données économiques et sociales en environnementales).
Equality Index indicators
Indicator 1: Pay gap (in %)
40 points (no difference)
0 points (difference of more than 20%)
Indicator 2: Difference in individual pay rises (in % points)
20 points (difference less than or equal to 2%)
0 points (difference is greater than 10%)
Indicator 3: Promotion gap (in % points)
15 points (difference less than or equal to 2%)
0 points (difference greater than 10%)
Indicator 4: Number of employees receiving a pay rise on return from maternity leave
10 points (4 or 5 people out of 10)
5 points (2 or 3 out of 10)
0 points (0 or 1 out of 10)
Indicator 5: Number of employees of the under-represented sex in the 10 highest earners
10 points (4 or 5 people out of 10)
5 points (2 or 3 out of 10)
0 points (0 or 1 out of 10)
Overall Index score (Maximum 100 points)
Source: Céreq (2022)
For organisations with an Index below 75, the law requires employers to introduce corrective measures within three years. If the organisation remains below 75 after this time there is a financial sanction of up to 1 per cent of revenue. The introduction of the Index has been staggered according to organisation size and sector. Since March 2020, all organisations with more than 50 employees must publish their Index on their website every year on 1 March. Even if organisations meet the required level of above 75, they still have to publish objectives for progression for each indicator.
Organisations must also communicate their Index, along with details of the various indicators, to their Social and Economic Committee (CSE) and the Labour Inspectorate (Dreets). From 2022, if the Index is less than 85 points, organisations must set and publish improvement targets for each of the indicators. These measures, which may be annual or multi-year, and these targets must be defined as part of the mandatory negotiations on gender equality, or, in the absence of an agreement, by a unilateral decision by the employer after consultation with the CSE.
If the results are not published visibly and legibly, or if corrective measures are not implemented or are ineffective, the organisation is liable to a financial penalty of up to 1% of its annual payroll.
From the outset the Index was heavily criticised, particularly by trade unions, and more recently by the high council for equality between women and men (Haut Conseil à l’égalité entre les femmes et les hommes, HCE). The indicators chosen by the government are neither precise enough nor ambitious enough to correct systemic pay inequalities in France.
The Index indicators have been constructed in such a way as to minimise or even hide the reality of pay inequalities within organisations. For example, 15 points are awarded for the number of employees who receive a pay rise when they return from maternity leave – which is already a legal requirement. However, all the employer would have to do is increase the pay of all the employees returning from maternity leave by 1 euro to obtain a full score on this indicator. Conversely, an organisation with a score of 0/15 on this indicator could still have a score of 75 points overall and therefore would have no incentive to change its practices despite them being unlawful.
Another indicator measures the difference in individual pay increases but neglects to measure the increase amount. The organisation will score full points on this indicator if 10 women receive a €10 pay rise while 10 men receive a €100 pay rise.
One of the highest-scoring indicators, the gender pay gap, overlooks one of the main causes of pay inequality: the issue of part-time work. In France 80,1 % [pdf] of part-time jobs are held by women, so calculating full-time equivalent pay masks the financial realities of the one woman in four who holds a part-time job and is therefore paid on a part-time basis.
These shortcomings can go some way to explaining why French organisations score so highly in the Index. Since the Index was created, the average score for French organisations has risen from 84/100 in 2020 to 88/100 in 2024, averages that poorly reflect the persistence of pay inequalities in France. 93% of organisations have a score above 75/100. The average score for France's largest organisations listed on the SBF120 stock market is 89/100, and 90% have a score above 85/100, meaning they are under no obligation to set targets for gender equality in the workplace.
In our research interviews so far, the Index has been raised by both management and trade unions. For some HR managers, the Index was mentioned as evidence of how ‘well’ they were engaging with workplace equality. The view from trade unions is that the Index has not meaningfully helped with equality issues as it is perceived that employers are just focused on obtaining a good score. For some union activists the legal requirement to produce the Index keeps gender equality on the table as an issue and organisations have to publicly share their pay gaps.
In its report Pay inequalities: big companies make the big gaps, Oxfam makes some recommendations for making progress on pay inequalities in France, one of which is to reform the Index. The indicators need to reflect inequalities more accurately, eliminating the tolerance threshold for pay gaps, taking into account the amounts of increases and promotions and removing of the indicator on returns from maternity leave. They suggest integrating new indicators after negotiation with the social partners that consider both sexual and gender-based violence and part-time work.