True confessions: As a female HR practitioner, I should not be surprised by the fact that women continue to be underpaid and undervalued in today’s workforce, but I am. Wage parity between male and female workers has been problematic for far too long. Unfortunately, this problem of wage inequity continues to be an issue in workplaces across the globe. As noted in a recent article providing an international perspective, the wage gap difference between male and female workers does not seem to be resolving itself any time soon.
Click here to read the article.
Q: What is the answer to this seemingly never-ending problem?
A: Job Evaluation.
Very simply, job evaluation offers any employer a tool, a methodology and a path to creating job equity using gender-neutral point systems that measure the value of work within any organization. While many employers in Ontario may balk at the implementation costs related to these systems, at the end of a job evaluation review, the employer can rely on a process that counter-acts systemic gender-based wage discrimination.
True job evaluation systems allow for the neutral review, measurement, assessment, examination and evaluation of work performed regardless of who is doing the work. Job evaluation should eliminate (or at least reduce) the need for a female worker to put herself through the rigors of demanding to be paid equally for work that her male counterparts are performing. If the system works, it will work for everyone, male and female alike.
The push for this change for wage parity started decades ago.
It’s time to make it happen.
Discussion Questions:
- In your opinion, why are employers resistant to implementing job evaluation systems voluntarily?
- What are the benefits to an employer of maintaining wage inequality between male and female workers?
- If you had to fight for a wage increase based on gender inequality – what steps would you take to make it happen?