Says employers paying men, women for same work 'doing the bare minimum'
The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) is calling on employers to fully understand the gender pay gap and its causes in order to close it.
WGEA made the call on Equal Pay Day, which marks the 50 days into the new financial year that Australian women must work so they can earn the same average pay men earned in the previous year.
"On Equal Pay Day, WGEA is calling on all employers to understand what the gender pay gap is and what causes it so that they can take effective action to end the gap in their workplace," said WGEA CEO Mary Wooldridge in a statement.
According to the CEO, employers who believe they've addressed the gender pay gap by equally paying men and women for the same work are actually "doing the bare minimum."
Research from WGEA revealed there are three main contributors to the gender pay gap, including:
- Gender discrimination (36%)
- Care, family responsibilities and workforce participation (33%),
- Gender segregation by job type and industry (24%)
It stressed that the gender pay gap occurs when women are working on lower-paid roles, while men are getting hired to higher-paid positions.
"Eliminating unequal pay is just one piece of the puzzle," Wooldridge said.
Gender pay gap
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed last week that the country's gender pay gap hit a new record low of 11.5%. This means women are earning 89 cents for every dollar earned by men.
"That's $231.50 less than men each week," WGEA said in a previous statement. "Over the course of a year, this difference adds up to $12,038.
WGEA research also found that 63% of employers have a gender pay gap of more than five per cent and in favour of men. According to the agency, employers should be aiming for a gender pay gap within +/-5%.
WGEA underscored that it has a suite of resources, tools, and masterclasses available to help employers and employees understand how they can contribute to workplace gender equality.
The Federal government also mandated WGEA to annually publish the individual gender pay gaps for all organisations with more than 100 employees in a bid to address the problem.
