Iceland becomes first country to introduce mandatory proof of equal pay

Iceland celebrated International Women's Day on Wednesday by introducing legislation which forces companies to provide proof of their commitment to equal pay for all genders and ethnicities.

The Icelandic government brought forward the legislation, which requires firms with more than 25 staff to gain a certificate that proves their efforts to achieve equality of pay between genders.

The country's minister for equality and social affairs Thorsteinn Viglundsson told the Associated Press it was time to think about addressing the issue of unequal pay in a "radical" way.

"Equal rights are human rights. We need to make sure that men and women enjoy equal opportunity in the workplace. It is our responsibility to take every measure to achieve that," he said.

"The time is right to do something radical about this issue."

Iceland is currently ranked best in the world for gender equality, according to the World Economic Forum, with a pay gap between men and women of about 14%. The UK comes in at 20th position on the index while the US is well back at 45th.

The government in Iceland has said that it wants to completely eradicate the gender pay gap by 2022, and Viglundsson is convinced that that is an achievable target, despite political opposition in the country.

"It is a burden to put on companies to have to comply with a law like this," he acknowledged. "But we put such burdens on companies all the time when it comes to auditing your annual accounts or turning in your tax report.

"You have to dare to take new steps, to be bold in the fight against injustice."