Equal pay for equal work
Equal pay for equal work is a right labor issue that requires that individuals in a workplace performing similar tasks are entitled to receive the same remuneration regardless of gender. Notably, it is mostly used to address the sexual discrimination gap that inhibits men and women to receive benefits including bonuses and allowances on the same level. In the United States, President John F Kennedy made it illegal to pay both genders differently for similar jobs by signing the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (Williams, 2018). During the Industrial Revolution, wage labor became increasingly formalized. In this era, women were paid less even after doing jobs of the same type. These would have been under the pretext that they were women (Freedman, 2007). As a result, it gave rise to the first wave of feminism especially that associated with trade unions during the nineteenth century in industrial countries such as that United Kingdom in the 1930s. However, it would be after World War Two that the concept would be fully integrated and led to the Equal pay act of 1970 in the United Kingdom responding to the Treaty of Rome. This paper seeks to analyze the issue of equal pay for equal work in the modern era.
A brief history of pay discrimination in the United States
Washington State
In 1973 and 1977 Governor Evans in his report, he noted that male-dominated jobs paid twice over that of their female counterparts. For example, a woman would earn four hundred and seventy-two dollars while a man in the same industry would receive a figure close to eight hundred each month. However, his successor Dixie Lee Ray did not implement the recommendations that resulted to the filing of a case in court by the American Federal State, County and Municipal employees against the state on the grounds of gender discrimination. In 1981, the court ruled in favor of the agency where the government was required to compensate its employees as from since the close of the research by the previous governor. Even if the Court of Appeal overturned the ruling it contributed significantly to bolstering workers pay and would cost the state a meager 2.6 percent of its personnel cost.
Minnesota
Another study in Minnesota revealed a similar disparity of twenty percent. In the same way, it noted an under-representation of women in professional and managerial positions as well as state jobs. Its recommendations included money to be set aside to improve the inequity in pay and encouraged affirmative action taken for women and minorities. As a result, the State appropriated over twenty million dollars towards the equal payment whereby women wages improved by over ten percent.
Recent development
The Obama government in 2009 signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pact Act which allows women to sue their employer upon receiving an unfair package. In 2016, he signed an executive order requiring the organizations with at least a hundred employees to submit remuneration breakdown of their employees according to race, ethnicity, and gender to their respective federal government. This advancement bolstered equal pay for equal work through increased transparency (Pearson& Elson, 2015).
Factors that determine pay
Race
In the United Kingdom, a study shows that the ethnic minority workers in the public sector have a pay gap of up to thirty-seven percent. During the 1960s the infamous “no blacks, no Irish and no dogs” movement were outlawed by the government by introducing the Race Relations Act. The idea behind the sect was motivated by racial discrimination in the area of work. Notably, employment of people with an African or Indian surname is difficult. The minorities may also face harsh disciplinary action and consequently lesser pay. Since 1993 little has been done to address the issue.
Similarly in the United States, in spite of the efforts reduce the gap by equality proponents little has been realized. The highest income earners are Asian Americans followed by their White counterparts, Hispanics and blacks form the last part of the category simultaneously. This has been explained as a result of the complexity that exists in accessing education while others suggest the two family structures has its role to play as seventy percent of black children are born out of wedding lock. However, the Civil rights Act of 1964 illegalized discrimination of pay based on race but the problem persists to date (Williams, 2018).
Gender
In spite of a substantial decline in the wage gap as a result of gender disparity, women still earn salary significantly lower to that of men. Since the 1960s, improvements in labor market qualifications, education, industrial restructuring and technological change has increased demand for workers. However, an international meta-analysis report indicates that women workers still earn twenty-five percent lower on average a figure that varies considerably between countries (Freedman, 2007).
The International labor organization reports that continents of Europe and Asia have little progress made in reducing the pay gap. The 2009 analysis also shows that the difference has declined slightly in the United States while due to women involved in the informal sector in Africa little evidence exists. According to the ILO, this vice exists because of direct gender discrimination and occupational segregation. Direct perception is when two people with similar qualifications are compensated differently because of gender.
A study by Yale University observes that less money is paid to women. For example, in the United States, a company offers four thousand dollars less for a job candidate who bears a female name. Even if fewer working hours for women is a contributing factor, other societal issues are observed to be at play such as being considered to be the primary caretakers of their family. In the Tech industry, the gap is even wider for women. According to an analysis by Glassdoor, women programmers are paid close to thirty percent less than males. In other positions such as information security specialists and game artists, the gap is even more extensive.
In her book the essential Feminist, the author notes that “God did not divide the universe making one part of it to be enjoyed by women alone and the other by men.” In the same way, work was not segregated Estelle goes on to say “He created the burdens of life to be shared and controlled by both sexes. Combating discrimination of remuneration is equally challenging for equality bodies globally. In the European Union, a survey observed that hourly earnings of women were sixteen percent below that of men in 2011. This is despite the illegalization by the Treaty of Rome in 1975 that required both parties to be paid similar amounts. The gap still stood the same in 2013, other features noted were ethnicity and disability, not the report indicated there was no significant interaction between the three. The role equality bodies’ play is to support victims of direct pay discrimination, but they should also seek to make the society understand the underpinning factors that contribute to this vice (Freedman, 2007).
The Equality Authority in England highlights how gender stereotyping contributes to segregation in the labor market; consequently, it has resulted in a considerable gap in remuneration. The factors of discrimination and wage cannot, therefore, be disjointed. Notably, at the organizational level, it narrows down to employer discrimination where personnel managers who hold such views can hire, promote or fire at will. Institutional bias is where such approaches are embedded in the practices of specific areas such as education systems, as such; the issue can only be combated using policies promoting equality in workplaces. This may result in a fair treatment of women in mostly male-dominated fields (Pearson& Elson, 2015).
Experts’ analysis
Utrecht University Professor Susanne Burri, the coordinator of gender equality in the European Network of Legal experts, observes that part-time work has developed onto a particular concept of indirect discrimination. The occupational pension scheme rewards employees who have worked for a period of fifteen and twenty years. However, in her report more women work on a full-time basis whiles their male counterparts. Females have more responsibilities especially in a family setting; consequently, they undergo many difficulties handling both situations. However, they receive similar pension amounts. It is impossible to measure such factors of the hardships women go through during work. What is observable is that women are doing more job and should be paid equally for what they do (Williams, 2018).
Possible solutions
Firms and businesses throughout the world point the need of addressing the equality gap as it can enhance utilization of talents in an organization. Therefore, companies should enact policies that address the areas of gender and race; these can then be applied to other fields. For example, Lufthansa started diversity initiatives in the 1970s which was supported by the work council which became more prominent in 2001. In the same way, the Deutsche Telecom absorbed a similar program into their system referred to as ‘Living Diversity’ that was enhanced from the previous policy initiatives which had focused on gender. Companies should be at the forefront of fighting this vice since they stand to gain from equality and diversity initiatives. Some strategies can involve promoting an organizational culture that encourages equality in the various ways in which they operate. While it can take many forms, a sample would include embedding diversity into the fabric of the organization (Pearson& Elson, 2015).
Again, equality bodies should work alongside researchers and policymakers to address the different forms taken by pay inequalities. For example, they should promote an understanding that men and women have similar capabilities and can perform any job upon placement. Gender-specific professions mostly contribute to unequal pay where there is a proposition that men can do particular jobs better than women.
The discrepancy of vertical segregation where women are less likely to sit on high position posts should also be addressed as its perception is always in line with racial or gender stereotypes. Researchers cite issues such as the impact of pregnancy, family care, and maternity as critical barriers to level remuneration. Therefore, the society needs to understand that these care related tasks can be managed through a work-life balance and thus promote and equal pay value for all.
Policies which violate the principle of equal pay should be amended. For instance, following the provisions in the European Union, regulations and national legislation all organizations must exhibit the character of equity in their rules of collective bargains, work contracts and agreements failure to which is punishable in a court of law. Audits can then be performed by the government to assess the pay formation of structures in all organizations to identify discriminatory elements. Such criteria should consider the nature and type of work to prove its effectiveness (Freedman, 2007).
Conclusion
Pay is the central factor that motivates employees. While the gender pay gap is not a new concept, it should, however, be addressed. In human resource, compliance with existing labor laws is a chief responsibility and often indicated on a company’s job recruitment advertisement. A state’s set of regulation may provide for inclusion of breaks for a particular period. To avoid overworking people, the number of hours an individual is involved in a specific job should be checked. Pay should also correspond to the level of involvement and shifts implemented to prevent work stress (Williams, 2018).
Equality in gender and pay has dominated many discussions throughout the previous century. Governments across the world enacted policies requiring equity in race and gender. While this phenomenon remains a topic in many nations, both male and females should have a chance to demonstrate their skills equally. This should be critically analyzed for managers to make informed decisions.
References
Freedman, E. B. (Ed.). (2007). The essential feminist reader. Random House Digital, Inc..
Williams, W. W. (2018). The equality crisis: Some reflections on culture, courts, and feminism [1982]. In Feminist legal theory (pp. 13-34). Routledge.
Razavi, S. (2017). Revisiting equity and efficiency arguments for gender equality: a principled but pragmatic approach. Canadian Journal of Development Studies/Revue canadienne d’études du développement, 38(4), 558-563.
Pearson, R., & Elson, D. (2015). Transcending the impact of the financial crisis in the United Kingdom: towards plan F—a feminist economic strategy. Feminist Review, 109(1), 8-30.
Hawkesworth, M. E. (2018). Globalization and feminist activism. Rowman & Littlefield.
Conley, H., & Page, M. (2016). The good, the not so good and the ugly: Gender equality, equal pay and austerity in English local government. Work, Employment and Society.
McElhaney, K., & Smith, G. (2017). Eliminating the Pay Gap: An Exploration of Gender Equality, Equal Pay, and A Company that Is Leading the Way.
Bryson, A. (2017). Pay equity after the Equality Act 2010: does sexual orientation still matter?. Work, employment and society, 31(3), 483-500.
What Students Are Saying About Us
.......... Customer ID: 12*** | Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐"Honestly, I was afraid to send my paper to you, but splendidwritings.com proved they are a trustworthy service. My essay was done in less than a day, and I received a brilliant piece. I didn’t even believe it was my essay at first 🙂 Great job, thank you!"
.......... Customer ID: 14***| Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"The company has some nice prices and good content. I ordered a term paper here and got a very good one. I'll keep ordering from this website."
