A/HRC/41/33/Add.2 31. The gender pay gap in Poland stands at 7.2 per cent, which is below the European Union average of 16 per cent. 12 The gap is particularly high in the private sector. The Working Group acknowledges the Government’s recent efforts, in line with the recommendation of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, to address the problem through the development of a new “Equal Pay” computer application to enable private businesses to assess their gender pay gap. The Working Group considers this to be a good practice. However, further work is required. Horizontal and vertical occupational segregation, including the undervaluation of women’s work in highly feminized occupations or enterprises, should be examined. As explained by ILO, not only are gender pay gaps rooted in well-entrenched stereotypes, they also represent a summary indicator that captures many disadvantages faced by girls and women both within and outside the labour market, thus requiring comprehensive, cross-cutting approaches to gender equality to reduce the gender pay gap. 13 32. The lowest earnings are in the “feminized professions”, such as the garment industry and cashier jobs, thus contributing to a growing phenomenon of working poor women. 14 Furthermore, in these low paying sectors and in the informal economy in general, the working conditions are often exploitative, and the legal protection is weaker or nonexistent, as is the case with domestic workers, many of whom are migrant women from Ukraine. This appears to be an understudied phenomenon and requires further attention by the Government to prevent the exploitation of unprotected workers and ensure access to basic services and labour and social protection. 33. These factors in women’s labour force participation, such as lower pay, higher numbers of part-time workers and shorter working careers, have implications for women’s financial independence in the short and long term and their retirement benefits. The majority of women collect a much lower level of retirement benefits than men. The gender pension gap stands at 23 per cent. 15 According to a survey, only 39 per cent of Roma women in comparison to 56 per cent of Roma men have or expect pension entitlements. 16 The different retirement age for men and women, standing at 65 years and 60 years respectively, is a factor leading to reduced old-age pensions for women, and the European Commission has recommended equalizing the retirement age for women and men.17 34. The Working Group welcomes the fact that the proportion of women managers in Poland (36 per cent) is one of the highest among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries (the average is 32 per cent). However, at 7 per cent, the proportion of women on boards is below the OECD average of 10 per cent. 18 The Working Group is also pleased to learn that the Government has introduced temporary special measures to achieve equal participation of women in the supervisory boards of State-owned companies. The 30 per cent quota has already been met, and a 35 per cent quota is set for 2020. The Working Group encourages the adoption of measures for publicly listed companies. This would place Poland in a leading position in this field, as one of the few countries that have adopted effective temporary special measures specifically directed 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 8 In the context of the European Union, the unadjusted gender pay gap is defined as the difference between the average gross hourly earnings of men and women expressed as a percentage of the average gross hourly earnings of men. It is calculated for enterprises with 10 or more employees. See https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Gender_pay_gap_statistics. International Labour Organization, Global Wage Report 2018/19: What Lies Behind Gender Pay Gaps. KARAT Coalition, Alternative report on the Implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, February 2014. European Commission, “European Semester Thematic Factsheet: Adequacy and Sustainability of Pensions”, November 2016. European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, “Analysis of FRA Roma Survey Results by Gender”, 2013. European Commission, “White Paper: An Agenda for Adequate, Safe and Sustainable Pensions”, 2012. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), “Closing the Gender Gap: Act Now: Poland”. Available at www.oecd.org/gender/Closing%20the%20Gender%20Gap%20%20Poland%20FINAL.pdf.