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Belgium

Gender Pay Gap Analysis Guide – Belgium

Gender Pay Gap Analysis Guide – Belgium

Adapted to Belgian regulations, methodology, and occupational/sector classification

1. Belgian Context & Regulations

Purpose

Help Belgian private‐sector employers measure, publish and address their gender pay gap in line with national law.

Audience

  • CEOs & Board members
  • HR & Compensation teams
  • Legal & Compliance officers
  • Diversity & Inclusion leaders
  • Payroll & Data analysts

Key Legal Requirements

  • Law of 28 July 2011 (anti‐discrimination): prohibits pay discrimination based on gender.
  • Royal Decree (30 Mar 2021) on pay audits: companies ≥50 employees must conduct an equal pay audit every 3 years and publish results.
  • EU Pay Transparency Directive (2023/970) transposition due by Dec 2026: will require twice‐yearly publication of pay gap by category.

Voluntary & ESG Frameworks

  • National Bank of Belgium – Diversity Charter commitments
  • Global Reporting Initiative (GRI 405‐2)
  • UN Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs)

2. Gap Calculation Methodology

1. Choose Snapshot Date

Use a consistent cut‐off date—e.g. 31 December—for data extraction and publication.

2. Collect Data

Extract from HRIS/payroll:

FieldDescription
Gender Female / Male (binary)
Base Salary Annual gross, in EUR
Total Remuneration Bonuses, premiums, benefits
Job Category NACE sector & ISCO occupation
Seniority Level Junior / Medior / Senior / Manager
Contract Type Permanent / Temporary / Part‐time / Full‐time
Tenure Years with employer

3. Clean Data

  • Convert all pay to full‐time equivalent (FTE).
  • Ensure all figures in EUR as of snapshot date.
  • Map uncoded roles to nearest ISCO 4-digit code.

4. Calculate Gender Pay Gap

Formula:
(Men’s avg or median pay − Women’s avg or median pay)
÷ Men’s avg or median pay × 100

5. Analyze Common Drivers

  • Unequal pay for same or comparable work
  • Gender imbalance in seniority levels
  • Segregation in high‐pay vs low‐pay sectors
  • Part‐time vs full‐time participation
  • Differences in hiring, promotion, turnover

3. NACE & ISCO Classification

Economic Sectors: NACE Rev.2

Belgium uses the NACE Rev. 2 classification (EU sector standard) for industry grouping:

  • 1-digit Sections (A–U): broad sectors like Agriculture (A), Manufacturing (C), Services (N–U).
  • 2-digit Divisions: e.g. 10 – Manufacturing of food products.
  • Use sector groups to compare pay gaps across industries.

Occupations: ISCO-08

For job roles, Belgium maps to ISCO-08 occupations:

  • 1-digit Major Groups (1–9): Managers; Professionals; Technicians; Clerical; Service; Sales; Craft; Operators; Labourers.
  • 2–4 digit Minor/Unit Groups: increasing detail down to specific roles (e.g. 2512 – Software Developers).

Assignment & Validation

  • HRIS mapping: assign each job title a NACE code + ISCO code.
  • Validate with official crosswalk tables (Statbel & Eurostat).
  • Ensure each group has ≥5 employees before reporting.

Benefits

  • Neutral, public definitions—no proprietary weighting.
  • Enables sector‐level benchmarking (NACE) and role‐level comparisons (ISCO).
  • Facilitates EU‐wide comparability under the Pay Transparency Directive.
Belgium ISCO-08 Occupational Categorisation

How Belgium Uses ISCO-08 to Classify Occupations

1. Underlying Taxonomy: ISCO-08

The International Standard Classification of Occupations 2008 (ISCO-08), developed by the International Labour Organization, is adopted in Belgium for official labour statistics and pay-gap analysis. It groups jobs purely by tasks, skills and qualification requirements.

  • 1-digit Major Groups (10 families): 0 – Armed Forces; 1 – Managers; 2 – Professionals; 3 – Technicians & Trades; 4 – Clerical Support; 5 – Service & Sales; 6 – Skilled Agricultural; 7 – Craft & Related Trades; 8 – Plant & Machine Operators; 9 – Elementary Occupations.
  • 2-digit Sub-Major Groups: breakdown of each major into 2–4 categories.
  • 3-digit Minor Groups: more specific job clusters.
  • 4-digit Unit Groups: detailed occupations (e.g. 2411 – Accountants).

2. Connection to National Practices

  • Belgian statisticians map local job titles to ISCO-08 via a national crosswalk maintained by Statbel.
  • Major public surveys (Labour Force Survey, joint sectoral data) use this mapping for consistency.
  • Employers align their internal HRIS codes with ISCO-08 to satisfy both national audit requirements and upcoming EU Pay Transparency rules.

3. Assignment & Validation

  • HR teams map each job title to the closest ISCO-08 4-digit unit group.
  • Ensure each occupational bucket contains at least 5 employees before public reporting.
  • Maintain both internal job code and ISCO-08 code fields for audit and benchmarking.

4. Benefits of ISCO-08 for GPG

  • Objectivity: Globally recognized, publicly documented definitions.
  • Comparability: Benchmark across EU and OECD using the same framework.
  • Granularity: Drill from broad 1-digit groups to detailed 4-digit occupations.
  • Neutrality: Free from proprietary scoring or bias—based solely on job content.