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Equal remuneration between women and men Gender equality indicator three
Workplace Gender Equality Agency | Equal remuneration between women and men 2
Contents Introduction 3 Analysing your workplace 4 Suggested actions to take to reduce gender earnings differentials 6 Predominantly male workplace issues 7 Predominantly female workplace issues 8 Moving from compliance to leading practice 9
Payroll Analysis Tool 9 Mind the Gap: gender pay equity online course 9 Standard on gender inclusive job evaluation and grading 9 Better Description and Classification of Jobs in Awards: A Spotlight Project Report 10
Related resources, case studies and links 11
About the Gender Pay Gap 11 Research 11 Useful links 12 Other WGEA initiatives 12
Workplace Gender Equality Agency | Equal remuneration between women and men | www.eowa.gov.au 3
Introduction Employees are attracted to organisations that offer competitive earnings and they are more likely to stay in a job where they are treated equitably and fairly. ‘Equality-proofing’ the range of human resources policies, processes, practices and procedures that might unintentionally incorporate gender bias could help your organisation: be responsive to the external environment maintain a competitive edge in attracting and retaining valuable employees ensure that in the changing labour market, you continue to be positioned to maximise your
human resources to achieve organisational goals. Keep in mind when reviewing your payment levels for jobs of comparable value, that there are minimum rates of pay for employees, dependent upon legislative and award standards. These vary from state to state in Australia. Furthermore, you may like to access the governments newly established website Fair Work Online, which provides access to, and information on Fair Work Australia, the Fair Work Ombudsman and the Fair Work Divisions of the Federal Court and Federal Magistrates Court. The information provided below aims to assist you to start thinking about: how you could analyse your workplace to identify any gender earnings differentials suggested actions you could take to address the gender earnings differentials you have
identified. Also keep in mind that women and men are not homogenous groups and differences such as age, religion, cultural and linguistic backgrounds, disability, sexual orientation, etc. warrant consideration in shaping your workplace practices, including processes, practices and procedures of setting rates of pay. Organisations that recognise and value different backgrounds stand to benefit from a range of experiences and skills. These skills are a resource for doing business in a diverse society. Not all issues, actions and examples suggested here are relevant to your organisation. It is up to you to decide what is appropriate and relevant for your organisation to consider when analysing your workplace to identify gender earnings differentials, and taking actions to address these. However, many of the suggestions outlined represent leading practice in contemporary human resource management and provide an opportunity to harness the contribution all your employees can make to productivity and the achievement of organisational goals.
Workplace Gender Equality Agency | Equal remuneration between women and men | www.eowa.gov.au 4
Analysing your workplace As the resources below make clear, gender wage differentials are overwhelmingly likely to arise due to the undervaluation of women’s work. To assist you to analyse your workplace and identify conditions of service issues for women, we suggest you: Revisit your workforce profile to find where your female employees are and whether there are
clusters of particular demographic groups amongst those women, for example a prevalence of younger employees, older women or women who do not speak English as a first language in lower paid roles
consult with your employees – female and male examine your current pay setting arrangements and how they may be impacting – positively
or negatively – on your current workforce profile and your future workforce planning needs proactively consider these issues when planning for or negotiating new workplace
agreements Ensure that equal pay for work of comparable value is being achieved within your
organisation. Remember, your organisation is unique and may therefore have unique issues. However, the following questions may be helpful when analysing your workplace. Where organisations are committed to eliminating inequity of salary and other forms of remuneration, they can reduce the risk of losing talented employees to other organisations and potentially a discrimination complaint.
Answer the following questions Yes No Don’t Know
Do employees working flexibly have access to similar benefits to your full-time, worksite-based employees?
Does your organisation offer employer-provided paid parental leave?
Does your organisation assist employees with child-care costs/facilities?
Do non full-time employees have access to pro-rata benefits and bonuses?
Do employees working part-time and casually attend training in paid work time?
Is the job evaluation system free of gender bias?
Is the concept of equal pay written into enterprise/workplace agreements?
Does your organisation conduct an annual gender pay equity analysis?
Has your organisation identified all gender pay gaps in your organisation?
Can your organisation confirm that there are no gender pay gaps for average starting pay in the same occupational classifications?
Are new appointees advised of the salary range for the role they are offered?
Has your organisation done an analysis to determine whether years of service are unjustifiably impacting the gender pay gap?
Has your organisation developed guidelines for performance
Workplace Gender Equality Agency | Equal remuneration between women and men | www.eowa.gov.au 5
pay?
Is the number of women who are paid above the grade or level range similar to the number of men who are paid above the grade or level range?
Do employees know what benefits are available in addition to salary?
Are bonuses allocated equitably on the basis of performance and requirements of the job?
Do female-dominated jobs receive similar rates of remuneration as male-dominated jobs that have been evaluated as being of similar size?
Are numbers of women and men in the lowest paid occupations, such as clerical work, similar?
Are women and men represented similarly in all ranges of grades or occupations?
Are women and men represented similarly in seniority in roles within occupations?
Do women and men doing similar work have similar job titles and pay?
Is the proportion of women and men receiving performance-related pay similar?
Is the proportion of women and men receiving over-award payments similar?
Is the proportion of women and men receiving allowances similar?
Has the organisation analysed whether performance-related pay is equally available in male and female-dominated occupations?
Has manager-discretion been eliminated in deciding who should get performance pay?
Has the organisation analysed data to determine whether there is a gender difference in opportunities to excel (for example, project work and secondments)?
Are women as likely as men to receive other rewards, such as free car parking spaces, health insurance premiums or employer-subsidised superannuation?
Do women and men receive equal training and development that would enable them to progress through the pay scales?
Has the organisation done analysis of women who have taken time out of the organisation and whether this has disadvantaged them in terms of pay progression?
Does your survey, focus group and other consultation data confirm that employees perceive the remuneration and benefits policies and practices to be equitable?
If you answered No or Don’t Know to any of these questions, it may indicate gender issues in your workplace.
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Suggested actions to take to reduce gender earnings differentials The following suggestions will help you to start thinking about actions you could take to address any equal remuneration issues you have identified. Note that the Agency has a range of human resource tools to assist in analysing gender-based earnings. Keep in mind that not all of these actions may be relevant to your organisation. You will need to decide whether you choose to do all, some, or none of the suggested actions. Review how remuneration, allowances and benefits are allocated to identify any equal
opportunity issues for women. Monitor and compare the increase in remuneration and benefits for female and male
employees in similar roles who are assessed as performing well. Develop a remuneration policy with clear and transparent processes and objective criteria
(eg. performance reviews, job analysis) for allocating bonuses, rewards, incentives, allowances and benefits. Ensure this policy is based on actual performance and not time on the job or hours spent in the office.
Link remuneration to objective performance measures. Train employees on how to use performance measures. Ensure that your organisation has a formal policy on performance review, and that managers
receive training in conducting appraisals. Ensure that there are appeal procedures in place for negative performance reviews. Consider having a Human Resources team member present during all performance review
interviews. Consider having a manager outside the employee’s work area involved in performance
reviews. Ensure that the performance review process is formal, documented and also works
effectively for employees working from a location other than the office. Review employee remuneration to ensure female and male employees receive comparable
pay for equivalent performance in similar roles. Also ensure that there are no discrepancies between different demographic groupings such as older women or women who do not speak English as a first language, and men in the same or similar roles.
Consider implementing performance pay across all organisational areas and levels, rather than in only traditional areas/levels (for example, sales positions, senior management).
Ensure that both women and men, including pregnant women and women on maternity leave, are included in all pay review processes.
Ensure that the organisation considers paid maternity leave and quality part-time work (including for mature-aged workers) in determining conditions of service.
Identify the skills of both female and male employees (eg. through a skills audit or as part of performance appraisal processes) and ensure that comparable skills and outcomes achieved attract comparable remuneration and benefits.
Ensure company-provided clothing is inclusive of the needs of both female and male employees (eg. safety footwear, maternity uniforms).
As well as a skills audit, job analysis should be used to ensure that communication and people management skills are valued and that pay levels reflect the contribution employees make across the organisation, rather than the more traditional relativities.
Embed the principle of ‘equal remuneration for work of equal value without discrimination based on sex’ into your agreement/s and human resource management policies.
Ensure that individual workplace agreements are analysed to ensure that they are free of gender bias.
Consider the implementation of a phased retirement policy/program that meets the needs of mature-aged employees.
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Predominantly male workplace issues In addition to human resources policies, processes, practices and procedures that might unintentionally incorporate gender bias, the most significant equal remuneration issues facing organisations with a majority of male employees may be: a low proportion of women in management a low proportion of women in non-traditional roles, eg. trades, labouring, plant and machinery
operators, corporate lawyers, banking, engineering, finance problems retaining female employees problems attracting female graduates. You might want to approach these issues by considering the following questions: Do you ensure that women and men are paid equitably? Do women have equal access to overtime pay and other additional earnings? Are your conditions of service attractive to female job applicants? Do your workplace agreements, employment contracts and remuneration schemes reward
and recognise women and men equally for the same work? Is there equal access to benefits and other entitlements?
Do you have a higher attrition rate amongst female employees because of your conditions of service? If yes, what actions are you taking to address this?
Are women or men working part-time entitled to access the same level of pay and benefits as their full-time counterparts?
Do you constantly benchmark against others in your industry to see what they offer?
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Predominantly female workplace issues In addition to human resources policies, processes, practices and procedures that might unintentionally incorporate gender bias, the most significant equal remuneration issues that face organisations with a majority of female employees may be: a lack of applications from male employees a low proportion of men in non-traditional occupational categories eg. clerical, teaching,
nursing, retail fewer women in management You might want to approach these issues by considering the following questions: Does your organisation’s pay structure reflect the nature of the work and the skills required to
perform the jobs? Have you reviewed your attraction and recruitment arrangements to encourage both men and
women to apply for all positions? Does the length of service for women and men differ between occupations? Do you conduct exit interviews to identify whether pay-setting arrangements have led to
elevated attrition? Do you offer a range of benefits that are attractive to both women and men? Are employees
aware that they exist and do they know how they can access them?
Workplace Gender Equality Agency | Equal remuneration between women and men | www.eowa.gov.au 9
Moving from compliance to leading practice From 2014-15, the Agency will be able to use the standardised data reported by employers to develop industry benchmarks for educational purposes. These benchmarks will enable you to compare your workplace outcomes and practices to those of your industry peers, to track your own performance from year to year, and to develop strategies to improve gender equality in your workplace. In addition, from 2014-15, the Minister may set a minimum standard for compliance for GEI 3. Employers who want to be known as leading practice in equal remuneration, should consider examining their policies, procedures and practices in much greater detail than is called for in their the annual report to the Agency. A range of tools is available to assist employers in conducting a consistent and comprehensive analysis.
Payroll Analysis Tool Gender pay equity is about ensuring that both women and men are paid equal remuneration for work of equal or comparable value. In addition to wages, equal pay takes into account discretionary pay, allowances, performance payments, merit payments, bonus payments and superannuation. The Payroll Analysis Tool assists organisations in the first step of this process, which is to identify the gender pay gaps. This tool has been written for use on the PC platform and it has been written using Excel. The tool includes the user manual. Please note: the tool has been populated with data to assist organisations understand how the tool works, what a payroll analysis looks like, what charts can be generated. When you import your own organisation’s data, it will override the practice data. You can download the Payroll Analysis Tool from the Resources page of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency website.
Mind the Gap: gender pay equity online course An online course on gender pay equity specifically designed to explain pay equity concepts, terms and issues, outline Australia's pay equity history and show how to "equality-proof" the range of human resources policies, processes, practices and procedures that might unintentionally incorporate gender bias or lead to gender pay disparity outcomes. The free and interactive course was designed with human resource practitioners in mind but is of use to anyone interested in pay equity. The course compliments the Agency’s payroll analysis tool, and covers legislation, statistics and gender bias in: performance reward systems the use of job classification frameworks competency and skills frameworks job evaluation the use of market rates salary surveys and allocation of benefits above base pay. There are a number of resources provided, such as case study videos, links, checklists and tools for use with components of remuneration and techniques of valuing work. The data contained within the course is current at August 2011 and will be reviewed shortly. You can download the Mind the Gap online course from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency website.
Standard on gender inclusive job evaluation and grading The Agency, in conjunction with Standards Australia and workplace stakeholders has developed an Australian Standard on Gender-Inclusive Job Evaluation and Grading (AS 5376-2012) so organisations can minimise gender bias in how jobs are described, evaluated and graded and check their systems and practices for gender bias. The Standard is available for purchase from SaiGlobal.
Workplace Gender Equality Agency | Equal remuneration between women and men | www.eowa.gov.au 10
You can download the Australian standard on gender inclusive job evaluation and grading, as well as the Guide to the standard from the Resources page of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency website.
Better Description and Classification of Jobs in Awards: A Spotlight Project Report This report by the Industrial Relations Research Centre in the University of New South Wales' Australian School of Business examines the comprehensiveness of classification descriptors in all 122 modern awards in relation to skills. The awards have been classified according to whether the descriptors are well-developed, moderately developed or under-developed. Around a quarter of the modern awards examined had well-developed classification descriptors. The modern awards are being reviewed under the Fair Work Act by Fair Work Australia commencing in 2012. Undervaluation of skills required for jobs traditionally dominated by women has been established repeatedly as an important contributor to gender-related pay inequity. While around 16.5% of the workforce is award-reliant in relation to the main method of setting wages, according to Fair Work Australia a much higher proportion have their classifications and conditions set or strongly influenced by awards including through adoption of the award classifications in collective agreements. This highlights the importance of properly describing and classifying jobs in awards. The report shows how Spotlight: A Skills Identification Tool can be used to check gender equity when describing and classifying jobs. A seven-step methodology is outlined for improving skills recognition, with a particular focus on the often-overlooked skills concentrated in women-dominated jobs. Spotlight identifies three sets of skills found in women-dominated roles: shaping awareness: capacity to develop, focus and shape your own and other participants'
awareness interacting and relating: capacity to negotiate interpersonal, organisational and intercultural
relationships co-ordinating: capacity to organise your own work, link it into the overall workflow and deal
with disruptions. As part of this pilot project, case studies on the Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations Award 2010, the Graphic Arts, Printing and Publishing Award 2010, Banking, Finance and Insurance Modern Award 2010 and the Clerks Private Sector Award 2010 show how the methodology has been developed and applied. The report is likely to be useful to those interested in examining the adequacy of classification frameworks in relation to skills recognition and gender-related undervaluation of skills. While the pilot focused on awards, the tool can also be applied to other classification frameworks. The recommendations and findings of the report are those of the Industrial Relations Research Centre. The Spotlight Project Report can be found on the Resources page of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency website.
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Related resources, case studies and links In addition to the analytical tools set out in Moving from compliance to leading practice above, other resources are set out below.
About the Gender Pay Gap Behind the Gender Pay Gap (PDF) Updated August 2012 looks at factors that may be contributing to the gender pay gap. Gender Pay Gap: Fact or Fiction? (PDF) Updated August 2012 provides current Pay Equity Statistics from the ABS (including industry and occupation breakdowns, and trends over time). Gender Pay Gap Statistics: ABS Average Weekly Earnings (Cat No 6302.0), May 2012 (as at 16 August 2012)
Research 2012 Women in NSW 2012 (PDF) a comprehensive report on the status of women in NSW, including pay equity and gender pay gap information. The Grattan Institute: Game-Changers: Economic Reform Priorities for Australia (PDF) outlines the importance of increasing the workforce participation rates of women. Catalyst: 2012 Women's Earning and Income (PDF) provides international comparisons of the gender pay gap. American Association of University Women: The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap 2012 (PDF) is a common sense guide to the gender pay gap in the US.
2011 Australia at Work Study: three fact sheets from a five-year longitudinal study on the gender pay gap. Gender Earnings Gender Pay Gap in Part Time Work The Full Time/Part Time Wage Gap You can also access the following statistics from the Resources page of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency website. Financial Services Institute of Australasia - Promoting Gender Equity Through Transparency Graduate Statistics (PDF) provide a breakdown of female and male graduate starting salaries
- exposing the gender pay gap at the outset of a woman's career. (December 2012) Gender Pay Gaps (PDF) Equality and Human Rights Commission Briefing Paper dissecting
the gender pay gap across the United Kingdom. World Economic Forum: The Global Gender Gap Report 2010 (PDF) This report includes
gender gap information on Australia and a 5 year comparative index on progress in countries across the world.
2010 OECD Countries gender initiative: Gender gap in Median earnings for full-time employees provides information on median gender pay gap in OECD member countries.
2009 NATSEM Report: The Impact of a Sustained Gender Wage Gap on the Australian Economy This NATSEM 2009 report (PDF) finds simply being a woman is the major contributing factor to the wage gap in Australia. This gap has a substantial effect on Australia's economic performance. (March 2009) The gender wage gap within the managerial workforce: An investigation using Australian panel data (PDF) The University of Melbourne examines the gender pay gap among full-time managers in Australia from 2001-2007. (July 2009)
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Making it Fair: Pay Equity and associated issues Report The 2009 report resulting from the Federal Government's Inquiry into pay equity and associated issues related to increasing female participation in the workforce. (November 2009) 2012
Useful links ACTU Catalyst Close the Wage Gap Economic security 4 women Equality Rights Alliance European Commission: Gender Pay Gap Harvard Business Review: Women and the pay gap Office for Women Top 10 tips for equal pay (Equality and Human Rights Commission UK)
Other WGEA initiatives Advice WGEA advises reporting organisations on pay equity issues and resources they can use to tackle them.
Looking for a pay equity consultant? The following consultants have completed the WGEA Pay Equity Workshop and can assist organisations in undertaking pay equity reviews, including the use of the WGEA Pay Equity Tools.
Consultant Name Organisation Consultant Email Philippa Hall [email protected] Zoe Lockyer AON Hewitt [email protected] Lorraine Donohoe AON Hewitt [email protected] Liz Kennerly Hay Group [email protected] Yan Kruger Hay Group [email protected] Jennifer Jervis Mercer [email protected] Amelia Mclean Mercer [email protected] Tim Sowerbutts QSRC Pty Ltd [email protected] Graeme Russell [email protected]
This listing is not an accreditation or recommendation by WGEA. Organisations engaging consultants are responsible for undertaking their own due diligence on the expertise of the consultants.