Women declare ‘Equal Pay Day’

August 27 has been declared “Equal Pay Day” and to mark the occasion employers are being urged to audit the earnings of their employees and check for gender pay discrepancies.

It has been 30 years since a women’s right to equal pay for equal work was enshrined in law but the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency Australia claims this goal is yet to be achieved in reality. 

"To match the average wage a man earns in 12 months in the financial year working full time ordinary hours, a woman has to work an extra 54 days, or a total of 14 weeks, to earn the same,’’ EOWA director Anna McPhee said. 

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics women are still earning on average $196 a week less than men. The ABS estimates women earn 84.4 cents for every dollar earned by men.

Today’s campaign follows the recent release of data by the Australian Public Service Commission revealing that even women employed in government were being unfairly treated. The research showed women were being employed in public service roles on lower pay rates and that two thirds of female public servants don’t get promoted after returning from maternity leave. 

Unions NSW data shows the female-dominated apprenticeships also pay less than those dominated by males. “For example, a first-year apprentice hairdresser earns $247.28 per week while a first-year building trades junior trainee can earn $326.30, or nearly $80 a week more, even though their skill sets are similar,” a union statement claims. 

ACTU president Sharan Burrow believes working conditions for women had deteriorated under the last government.  Ms Burrow says part of the problem is that women are underrepresented in senior roles and over-represented in industries dominated by casual, part-time and low-paid work. She also claims women lost ground under the Work Choices industrial relations of the last federal government.

"For the first time in decades, the pay equity gap grew wider after many women were forced onto individual contracts that stripped their pay to the barest levels, in many cases illegally underpaying them and removing job security," Mr Burrow told reporters.  "It is essential that we see new IR laws introduced into parliament that scrap the rest of Work Choices and ensure all workers, especially women, get back their rights at work."

The ACTU is calling for mandatory annual reporting of gender pay data by all employers, including the private sector and small business.  The EOWA wants employers to have transparent pay scales and promotion criteria, a meaningful work valuation assessment and flexible work practices for all staff.

Ms McPhee said the 15.6 per cent gender wage gap reveals the systemic discrimination and under-valuation of women’s work and believes the inequity hurts not just women but their families and society as a whole. 

The EOWA claims women were also lagging behind in terms of superannuation having just $3 in super for mens’ every $10. Coupled with the fact that women were almost twice as likely to be under-employed as men and that many took employment breaks to have children, women were also much more likely than men to end their working life in poverty. 

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Employment and Workplace Relations has called for submissions on how laws can be improved to deliver equal pay for women. 

Employment law specialists, unions and others have been asked to comment on: 

• The adequacy of current data to reliably monitor employment changes that may impact on pay equity issues;
• The need for eduction and information among employers, employees and trade unions in relation to pay equity issues;
• Current structural arrangements in the negotiation of wages that may impact disproportionately on women;
• The adequacy of recent and current equal remuneration provisions in state and federal workplace relations legislation;
• The adequacy of current arrangements to ensure fair access to training and promotion for women who have taken maternity leave and/or returned to work part time and/or sought flexible work hours; and
• The need for further legislative reform to address pay equity in Australia.