Equal pay for men and women. The Federal Anti-Discrimination Commissioner, Ferda Ataman, wants to achieve this through stricter laws. On the occasion of the Equal Pay Day on Tuesday, she called for a reform of the Pay Transparency Act in an interview with the editorial network Germany. Despite the law, it is still difficult for many women to prove pay inequality, complained Ataman: "The right to information in the Pay Transparency Act only applies to larger companies with 200 or more employees - and there are too many loopholes."

So it is not clear why women in a small company would not have the right to receive information about possible wage inequality, but in larger ones they do. In the case of the "further development" of the law announced in the coalition agreement, care must therefore be taken to ensure that the law applies in all companies in the future. "This must be improved," Ataman demanded: "We must not leave women alone."

The right of action for associations mentioned in the coalition agreement is also overdue, she added: "I do not understand the resistance to such a right of action. A right of collective action would also make sense in other cases of discrimination and belongs in the General Equal Treatment Act."

More legal remedies and sanctions

Any company that differentiates between the sexes in terms of wages is acting illegally. According to the Federal Statistical Office, women in Germany earn on average 18 percent less than men. From Ataman's point of view, more legal possibilities could create more legal certainty for those affected - and sanction those employers who do not comply with the law.

"Unequal pay is discrimination by law," Ataman stressed: "Germany cannot afford to pay women even less in the 21st century. Despite progress in wage transparency in recent years, politicians must continue to take countermeasures."

Federal Minister for Family Affairs Lisa Paus also commented on equality between women and men. "We still live in the patriarchy, from which we have to say goodbye," said the Green politician to the "Tagesspiegel". "For me, patriarchy is over when women are economically and politically equal, half of the power belongs to women, and gender-based violence is not trivialized as an individual act, but is recognized and punished as a patriarchal pattern of thought and behavior."

Paus made the remarks ahead of Equal Pay Day on March 7. On that day, inequalities in the pay of men and women are pointed out and the urgency to overcome such conditions is stressed. Wednesday is International Women's Day.