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AFP
Paris
French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday marked International Women's Day with a pledge to"name and shame" companies that pay women less than men for the same work.
On a visit to a Paris-based property management firm hailed as a model of gender equality, he announced plans to"drastically" increase inspections of companies to ensure they complied with a law requiring equal pay for equal work.
"We will put in place a 'name and shame' system to make public (the names of) companies that least respect the law," said Macron, who has made tackling sexism a key priority.
"No one wants to be bottom of the class on this issue," he said.
The World Economic Forum last year ranked France 11th out of 144 countries for gender equality but a dismal 129th for wage equality for similar work.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced plans to get tough on companies that pay women less.
Under a package of workplace reforms to be finalised next month, wage screening software will be rolled out in all companies with more than 250 employees from 2019, and in all companies with over 50 employees by 2022, Philippe said.
Companies found to have"unjustified" disparities will have three years to rectify the situation or face fines of up to 1 percent of their wage bill, Philippe said.
Sexism and violence against women dominated the headlines in France on Thursday.
