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Good practice Imported

Chile's Equal Pay Law (Ley 20.348, 2009): Internal Wage Registries That Did Not Close the Gap

Chile · Santiago · See the Chile profile · See the Santiago profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 72% 48/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Chile's 2009 Ley 20.348 gave workers the right to equal pay for 'the same work' and required firms with 200+ staff to keep an internal job registry. 15 years on, experts call it ineffective: the gap remains near 21-27%, and a stronger transparency bill is now before Congress.

27 %
Gender pay gap for identical work (2024)
21.7 %
Overall gender pay gap (2024)
Chile's Equal Pay Law (Ley 20.348, 2009): Internal Wage Registries That Did Not Close the Gap

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Dirección del Trabajo (Chilean Labour Directorate)
Period
2009-present
Keywords
labour law, wage registry, gender pay equity

Context

Enacted in June 2009, Chile's Ley 20.348 established a legal right to equal remuneration between men and women performing 'the same work' and required companies with 200 or more workers to maintain an internal registry of job positions and functions, effective from January 2010.

Activities

Firms with 10 or more workers must also run an internal grievance procedure -- capped at 30 days -- before any wage-discrimination claim can go to court.

Results

A 2024 Buk study found men still earn 27% more than women for identical work, while a separate 2024 Laborum study put the overall gap at 21.7% (18.8% in formal employment, 30.1% in informal work), with the gap in leadership roles reported as widening in 2023.

Conclusions

Labour-law academic Sergio Gamonal has called the law 'terrible' for relying on outdated 'same work' language instead of the international 'equal value' standard. Because the registry is internal and confidential, Chile's Congress is now debating a new 'Equidad Salarial' bill to replace it with mandatory pay-equity protocols and broader disclosure.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k) — Compliance cost borne by employers maintaining internal registries; no public spending programme.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — In force since 2009; a replacement 'Equidad Salarial' bill under debate as of 2024.
Staffing & skills
employer HR/compliance teams maintaining wage registries, labour inspectorate

Conditions for success

  • a legal right to equal pay with an internal registry requirement

Common failure modes

  • reliance on outdated 'same work' rather than 'equal value' standard lets employers defeat claims via title differences
  • registry is internal/confidential, with no proactive public disclosure
  • mandatory 30-day internal complaint step combined with weak anti-retaliation protection discourages filing

Where it fits

Governance type
national labour law
Scale
national
Income level
high income

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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