Remediation and the joint pay assessment — the 5% cascade

A pay difference for work of equal value is lawful when objective, gender-neutral criteria explain it: seniority, relevant qualifications, documented performance. Market premiums only with caution — the Commission’s FAQ of 6 August 2026 notes that market conditions are less likely to be linked to the value of the job itself; such a premium must be justified, gender-neutral and proportionate (Enderby, C-127/92). Two things disqualify a justification instantly: criteria invented after the fact, and “negotiation” — the candidate who asked for more is not an objective criterion.

What cannot be justified must be corrected in cooperation with workers’ representatives, within a reasonable period — and within 6months of the reporting date if the joint assessment is to be avoided. In practice, remediation means raising the disadvantaged group’s pay; the cost of closing each category’s gap is a number worth knowing before the report makes it a deadline — the calculator estimates it.

When triggered, the assessment is done jointly with workers’ representatives and must contain seven elements (Art. 10(2), points a–g):

1. an analysis of the proportion of women and men in each category of workers;
2. average pay levels and complementary or variable components per category, by sex;
3. any differences in average pay levels between women and men in each category;
4. the reasons for those differences, based on objective, gender-neutral criteria, if any, as established jointly by the employer and workers’ representatives;
5. the proportion of women and men who benefited from any pay improvement on return from maternity, paternity, parental or carers’ leave, where such improvements occurred in the category during the leave;
6. measures to address differences not justified on objective, gender-neutral criteria;
7. an evaluation of the effectiveness of measures from previous joint pay assessments.

The results go to workers and their representatives and to the monitoring body — and on request to the labour inspectorate and the equality body. Pay must then actually be corrected within a reasonable time.

Everything upstream of the trigger is cheap; everything downstream is expensive and public. Monthly per-category monitoring, contemporaneous justifications, and budgeted remediation before the reference year closes — that is the whole game. The cascade with its clocks is exactly what Egalis automates.