American society and business have taken great strides to provide equality for women, but the statistics still suggest there’s a long way to go. According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, gender pay equality will take 42 years to become the reality at current rates of progress. Measures such as the landmark Equal Pay Act of 1963 are supposed to guarantee fairness, but reality doesn’t reflect this regulation.
Influencing regulation is a long-term game, however, and so the question remains: what can businesses and their employees do? Developing equality in the workplace requires a flexible and modernized human resources body, enthusiasm and careful management. Business owners and employees must plan well, be versatile, and crucially, listen.
Addressing pregnancy in the workplace
According to the law, women should be protected in the workplace in the case of events such as pregnancy. According to WomensHealth.gov, benefit retention or firing due to pregnancy is illegal. However, this only applies to companies that hire more than 15 or more people, and is an effort to help smaller businesses with finer lines between profit and loss. However, as CNN found, dismissal due to pregnancy remains a problem. Indeed, some companies actively offer contraception to employees in order to keep them at work, despite the prospect of litigation arising from incorrectly prescribed contraceptive solutions.
Modern employers can counter this by taking a pregnancy-first approach to their employees. Make allowances in your budget for pregnancy, and approach any occurrence from the angle of supporting your employee, not maximizing profit margins. This will improve brand reputation, improve your reputation in the workforce and boost productivity. The US Ironworkers Union provide their female workers with 24 weeks, double the regulatory standard, and have reported improved morale and work.
The gender pay gap
Of all the concerns preventing gender equality in the workplace, the pay gap is the most symbolic. Research by Pew found that, despite narrowing, the gender pay gap remained at $0.18. Pew identified a range of reasons for the gap, and there are two key areas in that: embedded discriminatory attitudes, and the impact of motherhood on long-term earnings.
Addressing embedded attitudes can’t be done easily and is arguably easier in a smaller, newer business. One notable instance is being unfairly judged as incompetent. Pew’s research found that 17% more women had experienced this at work, and felt their pay was unfairly judged as a result. Tackling this can be done through workplace training; encourage your staff to learn about the gender gap, and take a light-touch but necessary view towards electronic learning with concern to learning about unconscious biases.
Creating a plan of action
In terms of the effects of pregnancy on long-term earnings, your business can help by having a fair and open recruitment process. Don’t preclude those on maternity leave from applying for higher jobs, and ensure training is delivered where appropriate and inclusive. A period of 12 weeks or more out of the business is not a reason to entirely deny development, and covering this gap can be crucial to ensuring equality and fairness.
Gender equality is something that you would imagine the law has covered. In practice, it’s not so clear, and incentives need to be enacted in the workplace. The benefit is twofold; you’ll have happier, harder working employees, and a greater workforce in general to draw expertise from.
