The riddle
A man and a woman start work in the same role, on the same date, at the same company. They are promoted at the same time, achieve the same level of seniority and retire on the same day. How much more did the man earn?
Reports and research show women earn on average 15-30% less than men in equivalent roles. In some professions the gender pay gap is wider, and the higher up the ladder women climb, the higher the pay differential. The Institute of Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), which tracks the gender pay gap over time, says that at current pace it will take over 42 years, for women to reach pay parity.
Double standards
Lelia Konyn, a Consultant at People Strategies for Business Performance has learned from many years of work the importance of equal pay, “Mostly through being paid less than male counterparts, I have realised that most companies do not see any problem in paying women less than their male peers, and in fact are quite content to do so. Remarkably, some of these companies espouse gender equality and other diversity on their websites and corporate values, whilst their Chairmen and CEOs participate in progressive organizations like the 30% Club and hold themselves as leaders of workplace equal opportunity. But, gender equality without equal pay is a contradiction in terms—in fact, it is a mockery.”
Not a buzzword—the elephant in the room
Equal pay legislation has been around for some time in the West—in France since 1946, Germany since 1949, Poland since 1952, USA since 1963, Australia since 1969, UK since 1970, and many other European countries since the 1970s. Hong Kong still has no equal pay legislation.
Konyn continued, “Some enlightened CEOs preach, and may even practice, equal pay—but many CEOs are not even preaching let alone practising pay parity for women in their workforce. Others, like Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, suggest women shouldn’t ask for a raise and instead believe the system will take care of them. Among the profusion of corporate slogans and buzzwords, pay parity is strikingly absent. Gender pay equity is not a buzzword, it is not even on the corporate radar. It is the proverbial elephant in the room.
Yet without pay equality for women, all the other discussions—diversity, mentoring, coaching, women’s networks, activities and best practices—are skirting the issue, dancing around and avoiding the bull. We need to take the bull by the horns, pay equality is the very essence of gender equality in the workplace. Without pay equality there is no equality, full stop.”
How do you eat an elephant?
Konyn was told by a former colleague that the best way to deal with elephants in the room is to cut them into small, palatable pieces, and then tackle them one by one.
Konyn believes that in the gender pay parity context, we need to create the corporate buzz and mandate a framework of practical actions. Starting with Chairmen and CEOs, add in external and internal enforcers and monitor & report progress.
An action framework
Konyn said that, “We could lobby governments to actively enforce equal pay legislation, but that might take longer than we are prepared to wait.” She suggests that the following actions should be taken.
1. Chairmen and CEOs to adopt pay parity as their mantra, their campaign, their project.
If they adopted the diversity vocabulary and are espousing it vocally as their own, they can adopt gender pay parity in the same way. If they sponsor the concept of more women on corporate boards, they can sponsor pay equality for women within their own workforce. Maybe a 30% Pay Club should be created as a feeder of the 30% Club.
2. Companies to publish gender pay gap information annually.
As part of corporate governance, political correctness and social responsibility, companies should publish gender pay gap information annually. The more enlightened companies should lead the way. Stock exchanges should mandate disclosure and reporting of gender pay gap by their listed companies. This would address one of the challenges for gender pay gap—the lack of transparency in pay systems that allow companies to pay female employees less than male colleagues.
3. Company Auditors to conduct gender pay audits as part of general corporate audits. Apart from clearly identifying the gaps, this would hold companies to account for taking action to close them. Such disclosure should be a compulsory addition to annual company reports.
4. Internal monitoring and enforcement by HR departments. HR is the only function with the entire pay data of a company. HR prepares employment contracts, runs pay benchmarks, implements performance and promotion-related pay rises, and works with pay consultants to evaluate equivalent jobs. As the guardian of people processes in companies, HR is in a prime position to educate, promote and enforce gender pay parity.
5. Create champions—white knights in corporate armour who are feted for their equal pay campaigns, progress and achievements. Chairmen, CEOs, shareholders, private equity firms, women of influence groups, 30% Clubs—please add as appropriate.
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
