Equal pay for our employees

Talking about equality is important, but ensuring equality is even better. We consider our annual equal pay analysis to be a health check to ensure that people receive equal pay for equal (or equivalent) work. As a company, we invest resources and a lot of time in conducting a full pay gap analysis of salaries for all 7 200 employees in If across the Nordics.

– It’s important to conduct the pay gap analysis to ensure that we are paying fair and competitive salaries to attract and retain the best people, while complying with equal pay regulations, concludes Henrik Lyckberg, our Head of Compensation and Benefits.

Our first equal pay analysis was conducted in 2020 as part of a common Nordic process, and the same process was repeated in 2021. Now, our duo of Sara Palm and Vanda Tönnesen, Group Compensation and Benefits Specialists at If, have teamed up with HR business partners and leaders to review each employee’s salary once again.

– If’s job profiles, to which all employees are linked, are the basis for our structured payment analysis, explains Sara Palm.

Identifying differences

The result of the analysis is a transparent categorisation that makes it possible to identify differences in salaries that need to be investigated further. An investigation might show that there are logical explanations for a pay gap, such as differences in experience, education, competence, market value or performance. The goal is not to remove all salary differentiations, but by identifying gaps and analysing them, those pay gaps that have no reasonable explanation can be identified.

– All HR business partners in the Nordics are involved, which helps us to understand the reasoning behind salaries that differ across the organisation. Most of the differences are legitimate and can be explained, says Vanda Tönnesen.

If there is no clear reason that explains the pay gap, the gap should be resolved, ensuring equal pay for equal work. Vanda Tönnesen continues:

 – The purpose of the process is to identify any kind of difference in pay that could indicate a case of possible discrimination, based on gender, for example. A culture of equality, where everyone is appreciated for their work and treated fairly, including in the process of setting their salary, is a culture in which people thrive. We conduct this analysis with pride and enthusiasm.

Small number of cases

 So far, among our 7 200 employees in the Nordics, there have only been a small number of cases each year where the gaps could not be reasonably explained. About two thirds of the cases concerned female employees, and one third concerned male employees. 

 – If we cannot explain why we are paying differently for comparable jobs and performance, we adjust the lower salary according to our HR processes and the regulation in each country, says Sara Palm.

Next year, the common process will be extended to also include the Baltics.