Human rights watchgroup recommends a total “shake up” of practices to create a better working environment for everyone
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On average, women in Southeast Asia earn between 30% and 40% less than men doing the same work. The causes behind pay gaps are difficult to pin down, but a new report from the Equality and Human Rights Commission hopes to offer firms suggestions on how to tackle them.
The UK-based report suggested flexible working arrangements as a mandatory offering for firms as a means to ensure greater equality for workers. Further, they suggested providing fathers extra “use it or lose it” paid paternity leave, to encourage men to play a more active role in raising their children early on, reducing the “motherhood penalty” that women often face when balancing their work and personal lives.
“The pay gaps issue sits right at the heart of our society and is a symbol of the work we still need to do to achieve equality for all,” said Caroline Waters, the deputy chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. “We need to overhaul our culture and make flexible working the norm; looking beyond women as the primary caregivers and having tough conversations about the biases that are rife in our workforce and society.”
But the issue of pay gaps in the workplace isn’t strictly gender-based. Ethnicity and forms of disability affect salaries as well, the Commission reported.
Men are particularly vulnerable in this regard, with those diagnosed with depression or anxiety experiencing a pay gap of around 30% as compared to those without it. That figure amounts to 10% for women with depression or anxiety.
When it comes to ethnicity gaps, Bangladeshi men working in the UK experienced the largest pay gap recorded: 48%.
The issue of pay gaps is a complex one, and no one solution can solve it. But through a comprehensive assessment of corporate practices and workplace culture, firms can push themselves in the right direction.
Other than providing flexible working arrangements, here are five more ways employers can battle pay gaps in their organisations:
Related stories:
What is causing Singapore’s gender gap?
Google sacks infamous anti-diversity engineer
The UK-based report suggested flexible working arrangements as a mandatory offering for firms as a means to ensure greater equality for workers. Further, they suggested providing fathers extra “use it or lose it” paid paternity leave, to encourage men to play a more active role in raising their children early on, reducing the “motherhood penalty” that women often face when balancing their work and personal lives.
“The pay gaps issue sits right at the heart of our society and is a symbol of the work we still need to do to achieve equality for all,” said Caroline Waters, the deputy chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. “We need to overhaul our culture and make flexible working the norm; looking beyond women as the primary caregivers and having tough conversations about the biases that are rife in our workforce and society.”
But the issue of pay gaps in the workplace isn’t strictly gender-based. Ethnicity and forms of disability affect salaries as well, the Commission reported.
Men are particularly vulnerable in this regard, with those diagnosed with depression or anxiety experiencing a pay gap of around 30% as compared to those without it. That figure amounts to 10% for women with depression or anxiety.
When it comes to ethnicity gaps, Bangladeshi men working in the UK experienced the largest pay gap recorded: 48%.
The issue of pay gaps is a complex one, and no one solution can solve it. But through a comprehensive assessment of corporate practices and workplace culture, firms can push themselves in the right direction.
Other than providing flexible working arrangements, here are five more ways employers can battle pay gaps in their organisations:
- unlock the earning potential of education by addressing differences in subject and career choices, educational attainment and access to apprenticeships
- improve work opportunities for everyone, no matter who they are or where they live by investing in sector-specific training and regional enterprise
- encourage men and women to share childcare responsibilities by making paternity leave a more effective incentive and improving access to childcare
- increase diversity at all levels and in all sectors by encouraging employers to tackle bias in recruitment, promotion and pay and introducing a new national target for senior and executive management positions
- report on progress towards reducing pay gaps by extending reporting to ethnicity and disability and collecting annual statistics
Related stories:
What is causing Singapore’s gender gap?
Google sacks infamous anti-diversity engineer