The UNIVERSAL FAIR PAY CHECK® has been recognized by the European Union Intellectual Property Office as a certification trademark. Meeting the highest standards of neutrality, verification, monitoring and transparency, guaranteeing the quality of the globally unique certification for participating companies. 

The UNIVERSAL FAIR PAY CHECK® was developed to certify companies worldwide regardless of their size, location or respective legislation, by identifying and sustainably closing existing wage gaps.

Our aim: a certification as uncomplicated and seamless as possible, but at the same time, from the outset we focused on ensuring this was a top-quality award. After all, we want to guarantee to stakeholders, investors and employees that the companies that we certify actually do provide fair pay.

We have developed the Fair Pay Matrix as a basis for the pay equity analysis: It is true that the main cause of unfair income differences is the pay gap between men and women, which is 23 percent on average worldwide. But in addition to the so-called gender pay gap, demographic characteristics such as age, origin or sexual orientation can also be reasons for unfair pay. There is therefore a whole range of meaningful indicators that can be used to identify possible unequal treatment. We have bundled all these variables and key performance indicators, which can be used to calculate the progress made in implementing equal pay and measure the success of equality measures, in the Fair Pay Matrix. This shows companies and organizations where they can start to implement equality and fair pay.

In addition the indicators in the Fair Pay Matrix are matched to the UN Sustainable Development Goals 5 (Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls), 8 (Promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all), and 10 (Reduce inequality within and among countries). The Fair Pay Matrix can thus be used to monitor how well a company is aligned to the SDGs.

On this basis and under the patronship of Hubertus Heil, German Federal Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, the certification has already been awarded to enterprises both large and small, such as the German DAX insurance company Allianz Deutschland AG, the fragrance group Symrise AG and Reykjavík Energy, Iceland’s second largest energy provider. And after close examination by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), the globally unique certification is recognized as a certification trademark since May 2022.

Fair Pay Certification meets highest standards

Thus the UNIVERSAL FAIR PAY CHECK® meets the highest standards of neutrality, verification, monitoring and transparency. The non-profit FPI was supported with pro bono trademark law consultancy by Berlin-based dtb lawyers. The certification mark is new territory in the field of trademarks. It has only been possible to register certification marks, to guarantee the properties of goods or services and to identify the mark as a quality seal with guaranteed properties in Germany since January 2019. Many attempts to register a service as a certification mark fail. The successful registration of the UNIVERSAL FAIR PAY CHECK® attests to its quality as certification which is of course awarded in the rest of the world according to the same strict criteria as in Europe.