Finland's Mandatory Employer Pay Surveys (Equality Act 609/1986)

Finland's Act on Equality between Women and Men (609/1986) has required employers with 30 or more staff to prepare a gender equality plan since the law took effect in 1987. A 2005 amendment (232/2005) added a mandatory pay survey inside that plan, classifying jobs performed by women and men and comparing pay for equal or equal-value work; a 2014 amendment (1329/2014) tightened the requirement after initial audits proved weak. Surveys must be repeated at least every two years, or every three years if the rest of the equality plan is updated annually.

The independent Ombudsman for Equality (Tasa-arvovaltuutettu) monitors compliance, can inspect workplaces and set deadlines for employers who fail to produce a plan, and can refer unresolved cases to the National Non-Discrimination and Equality Tribunal, which may impose a conditional fine.

Evaluation evidence is mixed. An early government-commissioned assessment found that roughly 38% of audited workplaces took no follow-up action even where the survey was completed, but where pay gaps were identified, employers most commonly responded with further investigation and salary adjustments in about half of cases. Finland's overall gender pay gap stood at 15.6% in 2024 — a slow decline from earlier decades — and the government's 2024-2027 Equal Pay Programme now targets 14.5% by 2027, backed by a new long-term economic research project into the causes of the remaining gap.

Read the full analysis: https://www.finlex.fi/en/legislation/translations/1986/eng/609