The observation is harsh. The “Pénicaud index”, nickname of the obligatory annual scale (inspired by the former Minister of Labor Muriel Pénicaud) which measures salary and career inequalities in companies with more than fifty employees, is not up to par expectations that accompanied its creation.
Since its establishment in 2019, and “despite undeniable progress (…)the French index has not fulfilled all its promises » in reducing gender gaps and their causes, estimates the High Council for Equality between Women and Men (HCE), in a report made public Thursday March 7 and submitted to the Minister of Labor, Catherine Vautrin.
The HCE, an independent consultative body attached to Matignon, draws up a mixed diagnosis of the index in the face of its initial ambitions, namely the transition in terms of professional equality from an obligation of means to an obligation of transparency and results, under penalty of sanctions. These were, all things considered, pronounced “in small numbers” since 2019 – mainly formal notices and only 42 financial penalties.
More problematic, the tool is only applicable to a minority of employees in France. Because, despite its appropriation by human resources services and the improvement in the average score declared by companies (88 out of 100 in 2023), the evolution of the declaration and calculability rate remains subject to improvement.
If more than 35,000 companies are subject to it – or 1% of the total companies in France – 18,470 declare that they are able to actually calculate it. Indeed, to make relevant comparisons, genders and ages must be sufficiently represented in number in each socio-professional category. Thus, ultimately, the index only reflects the inequalities experienced by 26% of private sector employees.
Gain efficiency
For the HCE, there is no question of removing this multifactorial thermometer to assess the efforts of companies with a common grid, but rather “working on a second, more ambitious version, which improves coverage of the companies concerned”notes Béatrice Lestic, national secretary of the CFDT, who took part in the work.
In March 2023, the trade union organization had already joined forces with an evaluation report on the index, produced by the Public Policy Institute, which concluded in part that there was no real effect of the index. in the short term on the rate of reduction of inequalities between women and men at work, despite an increase in the marks obtained.
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