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IPFS News Link • World News

Breaking: Iceland Passes Law Requiring Equal Pay For Men And Women

• http://www.trueactivist.com

The Nordic nation is the first in the world to require companies to pay men and women equal salaries for completing the same work.

On International Women's Day, most people were occupied and in awe of the fact that a $2.5 trillion asset manager installed a statue of a young girl staring down the iconic bull on Wall Street. While that news was applaudable, an important milestone was missed at the same time.

To celebrate International Women's Day, Iceland passed a law which requires companies to pay men and women both equal and fair wages. It is the first country in the world to require both public and private firms with 25 or more staff to obtain a certificate demonstrating that they pay all employees equally, "regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexuality, or nationality."

"Gender equality benefits all of us," commented Iceland's Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson.  "We may rank number one in the world at the moment, but the job is not done still."

This change comes partially as a result of Icelandic women leaving their workplaces at 2:38 PM in October to demonstrate outside parliament. Tens of thousands gathered to protest the gender pay gap and to proclaim that it isn't fair that individuals of different sexes receive different wages for completing the same work. It's important to note that the time the activists departed was significant, as it represented the moment during a 9-5 workday women, on average, begin working for free.