Manama: Two members of the Saudi Shura Council have submitted a recommendation to discuss ways to close the gender pay gap between men and women in the private sector.
Dr Lateefa Al Shaalan and Dr Moodhi Al Khalaf hope the advisory council will ask the Ministry of Labour and Social Development to reinvigorate its oversight of all companies and institutions in the private sector and help close the pay gap between their male and female employees, Saudi daily Okaz reported on Monday.
The gender pay gap is a blatant violation of the provision of the Ministry of Labour and Social Development that stipulates the prevention of any wage discrimination between male and female employees holding similar positions or performing work of equal value, the two Shura members said.
The pay gap on the basis of gender is also a breach of the guide for women working in the private sector which states that no discrimination in wages between male and female employees performing the same work is tolerated, they added.
Al Shaalan and Al Moodhi said the gender pay gap was also a violation of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) conventions ratified by Saudi Arabia as a member.
A study by the King Khalid Foundation found that men in Saudi Arabia earned 10 per cent more than women.
Around five per cent of all Saudi families are financially supported by women, according to official figures.
The two Shura members said the ambitious development drive involved empowering women economically through increasing their numbers in the labour market and supporting them by closing the gender pay gap.
Saudi Arabia’s 150-member Shura Council includes 30 women. The 20 per cent presence of women is among the highest in the Arab world.
