What Employers Can Do About Equal Pay Day
Today is Equal Pay Day, which feels like a ridiculous thing to make note of in 2021. Equal Pay Day is the day that women symbolically would have to work until to earn what men did in the previous year. It’s a reminder that no matter how many advances have been made, there’s still a lot of work to be done. In fact, women earn less than men in almost every profession, at all levels of educational attainment.
A woman starting her professional career today is estimated to lose an average of $406,280 in her lifetime due to the wage gap. There’s a domino effect to this. This gap in earnings also creates a debt gap (did you know women have a higher APR on credit cards than men do? And let’s not even talk about women and student loan debt). And there’s also an investment gap, in which women hold only 40% of the world’s wealth, despite representing over 50% of the population. So over the course of her lifetime, being paid less than her colleague doing the same job adds up in very real ways.
Let's not forget that March 24 is Equal Pay Day for all women in general. When you drill down on the numbers and look at the data for BIPOC women, the story gets worse. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, "To earn what white, non-Hispanic men earned in 2020, Asian American and Pacific Islander women had to work until March 9... For Black women it is not until Aug. 3. For Native American women it is not until Sept. 8. ... for Latinas, Equal Pay Day is more than 9 months into the year on Oct. 21." And just in case you think that this is a problem related to race/ethnicity only, BLS data also indicates that mothers don’t catch up until June 4 when compared to fathers.
While the gender pay gap isn’t anything new, the pandemic has made the situation worse. The reality is that women - particularly BIPOC women and women living in rural areas - have disproportionately borne the brunt of the adverse economic impacts of the pandemic. According to the National Women's Law Center, women account for nearly 54% of all net job losses since the beginning of the pandemic, further evidence of the current she-cession.
This is unacceptable. Thankfully, business owners and leaders are in a unique position to shift the disparity in some very real ways. Here are some of our recommendations.
Audit and Analyze Your Own Data
Review your company’s compensation by gender (and race to keep your findings intersectional) to identify any pay gaps. Include non-salary compensation like bonuses, stock options, equity, and other incentive pay. Once you’ve identified any gaps, make a plan to correct them. Building a thorough compensation structure for your company, based on market benchmarks, will enable you to be as fair as possible when determining compensation and salary increases.
Ensure that Employment Practices are Fair and Transparent
The best way to correct most problems is to shine light on them. Be as transparent as possible about your compensation practices, including sharing the structure with the company and proactively sharing salary ranges with candidates. Look for ways to remove gender bias from your hiring practices. This could include expanding your interview teams to allow for multiple perspectives when considering candidates, or reviewing the language in your job descriptions to make sure it is inclusive.
Be Intentional about Providing Female Employees with Meaningful Opportunities
Women are traditionally given less regular feedback, or are often overlooked for coaching or mentoring. This translates to lack of advancement opportunities. Also, pay attention to one specific word above - meaningful opportunities. Consider who has a seat in your leadership decisions, and who you’re promoting to director or managerial positions. Be intentional about the career pathing opportunities in your company. Put another way, don’t expect the women on your team to simply take the notes in group meetings or organize events.
Enact Flexible and Family-Friendly Policies at Work
All parents benefit from family-friendly and flexible work policies, including remote work, reduced working schedules, role sharing and compressed work weeks. In addition, policies and benefits that include paid sick leave, paid parental leave, and health benefits provide a solid foundation upon which all parents can both build their personal lives and achieve their professional goals.
Demonstrating a commitment to pay equity is the first step to address this problem, and more importantly in being part of the solution. But awareness only goes so far - action is what makes the difference. People415 is ready to help you create a workplace that supports all your employees, and levels the playing field for everyone. Because when women do better, everyone benefits.
