Gender-Equality Compliance: The General Framework
Gender-equality compliance in Georgia is a fully measurable legal task: the Labour Code regulates both the prohibited conduct and the specific layers of protection, together with the penalty exposure. The United States federal frameworks of equal pay and civil-rights law and the European Union's pay-transparency directive do not apply here — a Georgian organization's compliance is carried by the Georgian Labour Code, and risk is measured by its articles.
Four blocks anchor compliance: the concept of discrimination and the equal-pay rule, the scope of the prohibition, the protective regime around night work and leaves, and the sanctions. Each is set out below with the numbers an HR policy audit needs.
Equal Pay and the Forms of Discrimination
Article 4 of the Code defines discrimination as the intentional or negligent distinction, exclusion or preference of a person on protected grounds — including sex, family status and employment-contract status. Direct and indirect discrimination are both defined: indirect discrimination is a neutral provision that places a person at a disadvantage unless it is objectively justified by a lawful aim and is necessary and proportionate. Harassment at the workplace and sexual harassment are forms of discrimination; retaliation against an employee for filing a complaint is prohibited.
The central gender-equality norm is Article 4, paragraph 4: where a woman and a man perform equal work, the employer must ensure equal remuneration. This is one of the first measures in any audit — a pay gap on the same position by sex is a direct breach. The scope of the prohibition under Article 5 stretches from the publication of a vacancy through selection, career advancement, training, labour, pay, termination and social-protection conditions.
The Protective Regime: Night Work and Maternity Leave
Under Article 28, night time runs from 22 hours to 6 hours, and a night worker ordinarily works at least 3 hours within it. Employing a minor, a pregnant woman, a woman who has recently given birth or a nursing woman at night is prohibited; a person with disabilities or a parent of a child under 3 years may work at night only with consent. In heavy or harmful conditions, night work must not exceed 8 hours within 24 hours. On request, the employer must provide pre-employment and periodic medical examinations at its own expense, with medical confidentiality, and transfer the worker to suitable day work where night work causes health problems.
Article 37 governs the maternity block: paid pregnancy and childbirth leave of 126 calendar days — 143 in case of complications or twins — and childcare leave of 604 calendar days (587 with complications), of which 57 calendar days are paid, the paid part being used consecutively over 183 or 200 calendar days. The pre-birth leave belongs exclusively to the mother; childcare leave may be used wholly or partly by the father; and the employee must warn the employer 2 weeks in advance of taking it.