From today's illegal, fines men pay more than women

A new law that makes paying more men illegal than women has entered into force in Iceland.

The legislation, which went into effect this Monday on the first day of 2018, makes Iceland the first place in the world to legalise the equal wage between men and women.

Under the new regulations, companies and government agencies that employ at least 25 people will have to receive the government's certificate for their equal wage policies.

Those who do not experience wage equality will face fines.

“Legislation is essentially a mechanism that companies and organisations... assess every job that is being done, and then they get a certificate as they confirm the process if they pay men and women equally, said Dagny Osk Arandir Ped, member of the Icelandic Women's Rights Board.

The “is a mechanism to ensure that women and men are equally paid,” she told Al Jazeera.

“We have said that the salary should be equal for men and women for decades, but we still have a wage gap”.

Iceland, an island country in the North Atlantic Ocean that is home to about 33,000 people, has a strong economy based on tourism and fishing.

For the past nine years, it has been ranked by the World Economic Forum (WEF) as the most equal gender country in the world.

The Global Gender Gender Gender Report uses signs such as economic opportunity, political empowerment, health and survival to assess the state of gender equality in one country.

Since the beginning of the reports in 2006, Iceland has closed about 10 per cent of its overall gender vacuum, making it one of the fastest improved countries in the world.

The new legislation was backed by Iceland's centre-right government, as well as the opposition, in a parliament where nearly 50 per cent of all members are women.

I think now people are starting to realize that this is a systemic problem that we have to deal with the new”, Aradotir Pind said.

“Grave have been talking about this for decades and I really think we've managed to raise awareness and we've come to the point that people understand that the legislation we've had in the country isn't working and we have to do something more, “it added.

Iceland's government plans to completely eradicate the wage gap by 2020.