Companies with at least fifty employees are subject to a penalty payable by the employer in the absence of an agreement relating to professional equality between women and men at the end of the negotiations referred to in 2° of article L. 2242-1 or, in the absence of an agreement, by an action plan referred to in article L. 2242-3. The procedures for monitoring the achievement of the objectives and measures of the agreement and action plan are set by decree. In companies with at least 300 employees, the failure to reach an agreement is recorded in a statement of disagreement.
The penalty provided for in the first paragraph of this article may also be applied, under conditions determined by decree, in the absence of publication of the information provided for in article L. 1142-8 or in the absence of measures defined under the conditions provided for in article L. 1142-9.
The amount of the penalty provided for in the first paragraph of this article is set at a maximum of 1% of the remuneration and gains within the meaning of the first paragraph of article L. 242-1 of the Social Security Code and the first paragraph of article L. 741-10 of the Rural and Maritime Fishing Code paid to employees or similar workers during the periods in respect of which the company does not comply with one of the obligations mentioned in the first and second paragraphs of this article. The amount is set by the administrative authority, under conditions laid down by decree in the Conseil d’Etat, according to the efforts made by the company in terms of equal pay for men and women and the reasons for its failure to comply with the obligations laid down in the same first and second paragraphs.
The proceeds of this penalty are allocated to the fund mentioned in article L. 135-1 of the Social Security Code.