This is the sixth ‘idea’ in our Eight game-changing ideas for women at work series, published over the next two weeks.
How much do you earn? What about your friends? And your work colleagues? I grew up in a house where the understanding was that explicit talk about money, and salaries in particular, was impolite so even just asking you those questions feels a little rude. But I’m asking anyway because when it comes to pay I’m beginning to think that it’s time to be rude.
Because Australia’s cultural aversion to being open about salaries has rude consequences. The gap between what men and women earn in Australia is now sitting at a 20 year high of 18.2%. (If you’re tempted to argue that this is simply a result of the choices men and women make, please read this.)
While the reasons and explanations for the persistent pay gap are complicated, one of the solutions for minimising it is simple; wage transparency in the workplace.
Is it possible that we could shrink the gender pay gap by talking about our salaries in real dollar terms? To ditch the veil of secrecy surrounding what we earn in favour of full and frank disclosure?
While we can’t claim ownership of this idea (it’s been recommended by many committees and bodies around the world tasked with tackling gender pay discrimination) we’re convinced it’s one of the easiest and most effective ways to move the dial on the pay gap.
There is some evidence that in sectors where salary transparency is the norm, in the public service for example, the pay gap is at its slimmest. And it makes sense. Where there are explicit and open measures and grades surrounding pay, the scope for any differential between what men and women take home is considerably reduced.
But in most sectors, and certainly in the corporate world, individuals operate in the dark. We don’t know exactly what our peers, above or below us, earn. Without knowing exactly what our counterparts take home, as individuals it’s very difficult to determine whether we’re being paid equally. Similarly, at an organisational level, if someone isn’t looking at wages openly any gaps between what men and women earn won’t be spotted.
There is much conjecture about the pay gap and much of it seems steeped in disbelief. Of course men and women aren’t paid unequally! They just choose different paths. Women have children! They have different responsibilities.
The fact the pay gap begins at the graduate level renders part of those arguments invalid. At the graduate level the gap is at its smallest, and it deepens from there, but there is a 5.2% difference between what Australian males and females earn the minute they enter the workforce. And that’s not just me plucking data from thin air to support my argument; it’s a matter of fact.
To anyone who wants to argue otherwise, I ask you this. If there’s nothing to hide, and there really is no “pay gap”, then why not embrace wage transparency? Even if only to disprove the arguments of people like me.
Interestingly in the UK three years ago the government introduced an initiative aimed at reducing the pay gap through transparency called Think. Act. Report. Two hundred businesses signed up but just last week it was reported that only 4 of those had actually reported their pay gap and only two of those included pay grades which had been the target.
The resistance to transparency is curious if indeed there is no pay discrimination between men and women. Do you think being open about pay would help bridge the gap?