Gender equality bonuses and significant pay increases in the hotel and restaurant sector

The Norwegian Union of Hotel and Restaurant Workers and the Norwegian Hospitality Association agreed a new collective agreement for the hotel and restaurant sector on 24 April 1998. The outcome is regarded as favourable to the employee side, and it includes special provisions for the enhancement of pay equality between men and women.

The Norwegian Union of Hotel and Restaurant Workers (Norges Hotell- og Restaurantarbeider Forbund, HRAF) and the Norwegian Hospitality Association (Reiselivsbransjens Landsforening, RBL), agreed a new collective agreement for the hotel and restaurant sector on 24 April 1998. The agreement involves a general pay increase of NOK 3 per hour, and a low-pay bonus of NOK 2 per hour. The low-pay bonus will cover a large proportion of salaried employees in the sector. An additional increase in the minimum wage rate will add to the pay increases for certain groups of employees. Wages for employees working at night will increase by NOK 15 per hour. The parties have also included a provision stating that part-time employees already employed who want to extend their working time have priority over additional recruitment in cases where their company needs additional labour. Companies which fail to comply with this provision are obliged to state the reason for not doing so.

Incorporated into the new agreement is a entirely new type of wage bonus arrangement for the enhancement of equal pay between men and women. NOK 1 per hour per employee will be set aside as an "equal pay fund" at company level. The funds can be used only if there is an established company agreement on equal pay. In companies with 10 or more employees, committees on equal pay must be established, and in companies with fewer than 10 employees such committees will be set up if one of the parties wishes to do so. Equal pay agreements must be entered into before 1 October 1998, while the bonus arrangement based on the funds will be back-dated to, and come into force, on 1 April 1998. The hotel and restaurant sector is a highly female-dominated sector - approximately 70% of employees are women.

It is expected that the new agreement will increase the annual pay of the lowest-paid employees within the sector by approximately NOK 15,000. The agreement is seen as favourable to the employee side, and the RBL negotiation committee was split on the question of whether or not to recommend the new agreement to the organisation's members. The new hotel and restaurant sector wage agreement must be approved by members of the NRAF and RBL in ballots before 24 May 1998.