where can an employee go to lodge a complaint about pay differences

Different channels, depending on what the employee wants to achieve

An employee with a complaint about a pay difference can in most cases turn to three places, and these three do not exclude each other. Internally, there is the employer itself, via the information request about average remuneration — often the first and fastest step, because it puts the figures on the table without requiring a procedure. Outside the organization, there is the Board for the Rights of Man, which gives rulings on equal treatment and thus also on equal remuneration between men and women. And there is the judge, for whom a dispute about pay discrimination comes before a court of law.

Which route someone chooses often depends on what that person wants: clarity, a ruling, or an enforceable outcome. The Board handles complaints about unequal treatment relatively easily and without the costs of court proceedings, but a ruling by the Board is not enforceable in the way a court judgment is. An employee who first wants more insight themselves often asks internally for the figures before a complaint is filed externally — and who may file such a request is described in which employees may submit an information request. It is also important that an employee who asks such a question may not simply be treated differently for that reason.

Where this comes from: the Equal Treatment Act and the role of the Board

The Equal Treatment of Men and Women Act regulates the prohibition of pay discrimination between men and women and forms the basis on which the Board for the Rights of Man gives rulings; the Board itself describes on its website how a complaint about equal remuneration is filed and handled. In addition, Article 18 of Directive (EU) 2023/970 determines that in a dispute about remuneration discrimination, the burden of proof shifts to the employer once the employee has put forward facts that could give rise to suspicion of discrimination — a shift that becomes relevant once a complaint is brought before the Board or the judge, and which is further explained in who must prove that there is no remuneration discrimination.