'2023 needs to be the year of gender equality,' says Angela Champ, VP of HR
2023 really is the year of gender equality. Between fights for equal wages to breaching that gender pay gap, employers seem to be making strides when it comes to authentic equity.
Earlier this year, Canada Soccer was embroiled in a wage dispute with their female players – with the women threatening to strike if changes weren’t made.
Canada Soccer then proposed a new pay deal that would see female players paid the same as their male counterparts, The Guardian reports, with part of the statement reading: “Our women deserve to be paid equally and they deserve the financial certainty going into the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.”
And while it’s a move in the right direction, this issue isn’t just relevant to the sporting world. In fact, unequal pay is something that’s rocked HR leaders for decades now – and for one VP of HR, she believes it’s time for top-down change.
“2023 needs to be the year of gender equality,” says Angela Champ, VP of HR at Alpine Business Maintenance. “Progress in the past 100 years has been glacially slow and the time is right for us - governments, corporations, society - to make bold moves for parity and equality.
“Gender rights and equality are eroding in countries near and far from us - look at what is happening in Afghanistan, Iran, and even the United States. We need to be deliberate and intentional in promoting and protecting gender equality in order to prevent moving backwards on this.”
According to data from the Canadian Women’s Foundation, women working full time earn 16.1% less than their male counterparts, with that gap widening for racialized women, Indigenous women and women with disabilities. In fact, racialized women make just 59.3% of the average white man’s earnings. The centre also revealed that if we don’t make changes now, it will take a staggering 267.6 years to close the economic gender gap worldwide.
Legislating pay equity
But is this gap and inequality being felt in real time? A recent survey from Indeed found that 65% of Canadian women believe they’re currently being underpaid, with 20% of all women polled adding that they don’t think the gender pay gap will ever close. So what are employers and the government actually doing to resolve the issue?
One province is trying to make some progress at least, says Champ.
“British Columbia recently tabled legislation on pay transparency, a precursor to pay equity,” she tells HRD. “BC is one of four jurisdictions in Canada that doesn’t have pay equity legislation, meaning that women make, on average, 17% less than men do for work of the same value (according to Stat Can).”
If passed, BC’s Bill 13 would stop employers from asking candidates about their salary history, require all employers to include wage ranges in job adverts, and force companies to public pay reports on their gender pay gap.
“Organizations can play a leading role in addressing this by reviewing its compensation programs and salary structures for women, trans people, non-binary, and other groups that don’t yet have gender equality,” adds Champ.
“The time for bold moves is now.”