Page Executive Summary 1. Introduction 1.1 Significance of the report 1.2 Source of information 1.3 Scope of the report Bases for Gender 2.1 Pay Inequity 2 3 3 3 3 3 3
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Barriers to womens career development 3.1 Glass Ceiling 3.2 Women in Trades 3.3 Stereotyping 3.4 Women and the corporate culture Corporate Strategies to Achieve Pay Equity 4.1 Skill-based Pay System 4.2 Salaried Workforce 4.3 Performance-based Pay System 4.4 Managing a Diverse Workforce Conclusions
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List of References Appendices Appendix 1 Employment ratio of female with employed partners Appendix 2 Proportion of employed person working full-time
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Executive Summary:
Pay equity is equal payment of adult males and adult females doing the same class of work or work of equal value (http://www.workandfamily.nsw.gov.au). The report will explore whether pay equity is a dominant factor in conflicting issues within gender and class interest, and compare and contrast whether these dynamics influence the outcome. In order to determine concept of pay inequity, the report identifies factors that have acted as barriers to womens career development, as well as providing a detailed analysis of how organisations can contribute to the achievement of pay equity. It would appear from my empirical research that even though an increasingly number of women have been entering the male dominated work force since world war 2 that there roles within society have been stereotyped and this has been transferred to the labour market. A womens role as care provider has been extended to nurturing roles within the labour market to teaching, nursing and domestic chores. These employment positions are lowly in both status and pay. On preliminary analysis, organisations can contribute to the solution of pay equity through directly linking performance-based pays to skills, knowledge and abilities of an individual rather than gender. This would give women more representation at senior management level, ensuring a transparent career path towards career progression. This has been discussed in detail in the report.
1. Introduction:
1.1 Significance of the Report The purpose of the report was to explore the concept of pay equity, identifying bases of inequity and how they have developed. The report also includes how organisations can contribute to the achievement of pay equity. 1.2 The Sources of Information The sources of information came from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, reputable websites and academic references. 1.3 Scope of the Report A limitation of the report was there was little empirical research in the career development of both male and female executives, and little study in the experiences of women who have advanced to senior management positions and in particular CEO of an organisation. In trying to understand why there is only two female CEOs within Australia the report identifies the main barriers of preventing womens career advancements.
In pre-industrial society women looked after the family and the home. The home was the centre of family life. Most homes were making there own goods and trading them within their own local communities. In contrast, men were working outside ploughing fields and hunting. In the pre-industrial society wealth divided the community. The wealthy women had slaves to help them in and outside of the home. Men were often hard task masters, sexually abusing women. In the post-industrial society cottage industries exacerbated gender differences through women and their families being taken advantage of by rich male factory owners. Terrible working conditions undermined the wellbeing of women. In the late 1900s cultural traditions prevented women from working outside of the home. Majority of the women were in some kind of paid domestic work. In the twentieth century, rising cost of living and financial stress have shifted the social trends towards dual income, this is evident in appendix 1 where 63% of females have dependent children. Pay equity and industrial relations have been intertwined into the Australian history. The current pay equity regulation has been the result of the Australian Government intervention. However employment relationship has been mediated through the industrial tribunals established as the centre of the arbitration system (http://www.deir.qld.gov.au/pdf/ir/payequitya1.pdf). This direct relationship has changed
over the last decade due to the legislation of human rights such as the Sex Discrimination Act 1974, and also because of the new reliance on Constitutional legislative powers by the Commonwealth government such as the Corporations and External Affairs powers (http://www.deir.qld.gov.au/pdf/ir/payequitya1.pdf). The Equal Pay Act was legislated in 1975 to coincide with the Sexual Discrimination Act. The Equal Pay Act was amended in 1983 to enable employees to claim equal pay on the grounds of comparable worth. The main objective of the Act is to eliminate the pay discrimination between men and women. This change has been the result of globalisation and competitiveness within the Australian economy, and even though direct intervention by the Australian Government has legislated pay equity, current policies on pay equity are still influenced by public commissions. The arbitration system has played a large part in shaping the history of pay equity. The Commonwealth Conciliation & Arbitration Act was enacted in 1904 and the first consideration of female wages was in the Fruitpickers Case in 1912 and the female basic wage was fixed at 54% of the male wage by Higgins J in the Clothing Trades Case in 1919 (http://www.deir.qld.gov.au/pdf/ir/payequitya1.pdf).
Employers and the trade unions must determine the worth of a position from comparable industries. A firm will look at other firms within the same industry and see what the market value is for a particular position. In contrast trade unions look at rates and the public sector tends to look at the private sector for comparisons, especially in terms of occupational groups (Cole 2002, p:250). The public sector seeks advice and recommendations from review bodies to determine pay equity. According to the Bureau of Statistics women in 2007, on average, earned just 65 per cent of what men earned, meaning a pay gap of 35 percentage points(http://www.abs.gov.au). Such obvious inequality can be contributed to men having longer experience within the work force. Women have always been the home maker and men have been the bread winners. Unions have been dominated by males and do therefore not understand of the gender discrimination issues women are faced with. Therefore, women have had to seek advice and help through other means. Furthermore, unions have come under increasing scrutiny regarding restrictions on civil liberties, treatment of women, corruption, political influence and their contribution to economic performance(Stone 1998, p:538). Womens roles in the workforce relies on the improved child-care facilities, availability of part-time work, job security after an absence for child bearing, maternity leave and special parental leave (Stone 1998, p:50). Australias labour market has a strong part-time and casual workforce. According to the bureau of statistics in Appendix 1 63% of women with dependents are in either part-time or casual positions as contrast to 32% of men. Still shouldering the bulk of the housework and primary responsibility for child-care in most families, many women prefer to work part-time (Stone 1998, p: 51). A higher percentage of women are in industries such as retail, hospitality, and child-care. These industries rely on part-time and casual workers to give their organisations more flexibility to be abele to reduce their costing in low periods. This cost cutting strategy enables organisations to be more competitive.
3.3 Stereotyping
Many women have chosen careers where succession planning for career advancement is lacking. These staff positions often provide rewarding careers for both men and women, but they are seldom visible in the sense of preparing an individual for rapid advancement (Robbins et al 2003, p:669). Women are seen in gender specific roles that remove them from succession planning; usually they are moved laterally to become experts in support roles while men are usually moved upwards towards general management roles.
Job sharing: Gives employees the opportunity to share their position with another employee in splitting the work week between them. Telecommuting: Employees are able to work from home while communicating with there work place via the internet, fax and telephone.
In equity theory, individuals compare their jobs inputs-outcomes ratio with those of relevant others. If they perceive they are being under-rewarded, their work motivation declines, or they may even resign. When individuals perceive they are being over-rewarded, they are often motivated to work harder in order to justify their pay (Robbins et al 2003, p: 477). Organisations can also approach gender differences through understanding and identifying issues surrounding womens barrier of career advancement. The following strategies can also contribute to the achievement of pay equity Provide coaching and mentoring programs for women Provide succession planning for women Ensure women have the opportunity for career advancement through making a conscious effort of including them in the short list for senior roles.
5. Conclusion:
This report has presented the concept of pay inequity and the problems associated with it and how organisations can contribute to the achievement of pay equity. Since World War 2 women have increasingly entered the male dominated work force but there pay rates are still quite different. For organisations to contribute to the achievement of pay equity my research suggests that performance-based pay and skill-based pay systems be implemented to link performances directly to skills, knowledge and abilities rather than gender. This transparency of rewarding employees will also contribute to closing future gender pay gaps. The low proportion of female senior management in Australia can also be contributed to 63% of women with dependents are in either part-time or casual positions as in contrast to 32% of men. This negative correlation could be related to gender pay and worked hours. Critiques suggest that women are more adept at doing household chores as their role as carer requires it and therefore these skills are transferred into the labour market. Domestic jobs give women more flexibility and work life balances and this is evident in their labour demands within the market. Unfortunately domestic positions are low in pay and status.
Womens roles in society have shifted during the 19 th century with equal rights and voting. Womens roles in both the family and within the marital unit were influenced by society. Women saw there position within society as a reflection of there marriage. This is not a bad thing, but the source of the problem is that this status also stereotyped women in particular roles within the labour market which has attributed to their pay differences compared to there male counterparts.
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List of References:
Cole, G. 2002, Personnel and Human Resource Management, 5th edn, Continuum, London.
Guidelines for Citing References and Electronic Sources of Information (n.d.) [Online], Available: http://www.workandfamily.nsw.gov.au/payequity/index.html, [Accessed 10 April 2008]. Guidelines for Citing References and Electronic Sources of Information (n.d.) [Online], Available: http://www.deir.qld.gov.au/pdf/ir/payequitya1.pdf, [Accessed 15 April 2008]. Guidelines for Citing References and Electronic Sources of Information (n.d.) [Online], Available: http://www.abs.gov.au, [Accessed 12 April 2008].
Robbins, S.P., Bergman, R., Stagg, I. & Coulter, M. 2003, Management, 3rd edn, Prentice Hall, Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.
Robert C. Forney, cited in E. I. dupont de Nemours and Company (hereafter, DuPont), Diversity: A Source of Strength, Wilmington, DE: DuPont, 1988.
Ryan, N., Parker, R. & Hutchings, K. 1999, Government Business and Society, Prentice Hall, Sydney. Stone, R. 1998, Human Resource Management, 3rd edn, John Wiley & Sons, Milton, Queensland. Waddell, D.M., Cummings, T.G. & Worley, C.G. 2000, Organisation Development & Change, Nelson Thomson Learning, South Melbourne, Victoria.
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Appendices:
Appendix 1: EMPLOYMENT RATIOS OF FEMALES WITH EMPLOYED PARTNERS, 2000
Female's age group (years) 15-24 25-44 % % 45-64 % Total % 50 26 76 27 36 63
No dependent children present Full-time 65 71 36 Part-time 19 18 31 Total 83 89 67 Dependent children present Full-time 9 25 37 Part-time 24 37 36 Total 33 62 73 Source: Labour Force Status and Other Characteristics of Families, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6224.0); ABS Labour Force Surveys, July 1999 to June 2000.
Age 1519 years 76.0 62.8 51.7 28.3 44.8 2024 years 93.3 83.5 84.6 70.6 76.1 2534 years 96.5 63.2 94.0 64.1 91.3 3544 years 97.2 53.7 94.4 54.3 92.5 4554 years 96.6 57.1 94.6 59.3 92.1 5564 years 92.3 56.0 85.9 49.7 84.8 65 years and over 61.4 37.0 58.3 35.1 54.3 Total 15 years 93.8 62.9 89.0 57.4 85.5 and over Source: Labour Force, Australia, Detailed Electronic Delivery, quarterly (ABS cat. no. 6291.0.55.003)
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