Equal pay is no more a distant dream – at least for women working in Iceland. The Nordic nation showcased its true stand in egalitarianism as they become the first country in the world to make it illegal to pay men more than women in the same job. Gender pay disparity has been a topic of discussion in almost all countries, however, Iceland is the first to find a solution. The country with a population of 334,252, passed a bill that criminalizes pay gap that exists due to gender discrimination.

Iceland has been ranked the best in the world for gender equality by the World Economic Forum for nine years in a row. There is a reason for it - Iceland is a strong advocate of gender equality worldwide. For the longest time, a bill was due to pass tackling the pay inequality issue as women were paid 14%-20% less than men. The law came to effect on the first day of the New Year after being announced about the same on International Women's Day on 8 March 2017.

Under the new gender pay bill, companies, as well as government agencies with a minimum of 25 full-time employees, need to get equal pay certification from the government. It states clearly that companies with a strength of 250 and more employees have to get the certification by the end of 2018 while smaller-sized companies will follow in the coming years, as per their strength. On failing to adhere to the current legislation, a fine of around USD500 per day has to be paid by the defaulting company.

"It's a mechanism to ensure women and men are being paid equally," Dagny Osk Aradottir Pind, of the Icelandic Women's Rights Association, was quoted speaking to Al Jazeera. She further commented, "We have had legislation saying that pay should be equal for men and women for decades now but we still have a pay gap." Ms Pind concluded her thoughts over the announced by saying, "I think that now people are starting to realise that this is a systematic problem that we have to tackle with new methods."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 04, 2018 04:24 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).