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Spain was set Friday to pass legislation punishing sexual discrimination in the workplace following the publication of statistics showing wide salary discrepancies between male and female employees.
According to the legislation, firms could be fined up to 90,000 euros (110,000 dollars) in cases of proven discrimination or sexual or racial harassment, El Pais newspaper said.
The law will force firms to draw up equality measures and for companies employing more than 250 people an anti-discrimination charter will be incorporated into collective labour agreements.
It will establish "balanced representation between men and women in all administrative sectors" and "guarantee balanced presence in electoral processes," Minister for Work Jesus Caldera said at a news conference.
First Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega, said the law was a new step "on a long road to equality" and added the government had been making progress since its March 2004 election, thereby "showing its commitment to reducing inequality."
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said following his election he considered himself a feminist and promptly named eight women to a 16-strong cabinet.
The plans are set to be reviewed in four years -- which would be half way through a second term for the current Socialist government, assuming it wins re-election in 2008 and, if deemed insufficient, "tougher legal modifications" will be introduced, according to El Pais.
The firms' own charters are likely to include employment measures including positive discrimination.
El Pais meanwhile published statistics from the National Statistical Institute showing that men on average earn 40 percent more than women (22,100 euros a year for men compared with 15,700 for women).
But the difference was to a degree explained by the kind of contract they have, with women accounting for 78 percent of part-time work and men 65 percent of full-time employment.
Nonetheless, women still tend to earn less than men even in the same job with the largest discrepancy among non-graduates, among whom men tend to earn 75.1 percent more, according to available statistics.
Even when it comes to senior public administration posts or firms employing more than 10 people men's average net pay is on average 35 percent more than women (57,444 euros to 42,369).
Among the 4.8 million Spanish households where a woman is head of the family, 43.3 percent earn less than 14,000 euros, a category dubbed "mileuristas" -- that is, people who have to survive on around 1,000 euros a month.
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AFP 031941 GMT 03 06
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