Research Paper on "Analyzing Gender Wage Gap"

Research Paper 8 pages (2788 words) Sources: 5

[EXCERPT] . . . .

The court turned it down on the basis that she had taken too long before she actually proposed her case and this in effect made her to lose the trial (Johnson, 2014). This was indeed heartbreaking loss for Ledbetter. However, she did not stop there, she further petitioned the Congress to pass a legislation to allow women an extended time to propose any case in the event that they planned to sue any company over pay discrimination.

Two years after the failure of her petition, the Congress passed the now famous Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which gives women more time and allows a fair period of time so that they can construct a case against any company they intend to sue.

Also, Fair Pay Act of 2005 is another legislation, which has made an impact on the issue of pay discrimination. This act was a revision of the Equal Pay Act, which requires equal work to attract equal pay. Instead, the revision demands for equal pay for people doing jobs that require the same skill, same effort, same working conditions and similar responsibility.

In addition, all employees are now required to disclose to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission so as to ensure that there are no hidden pay disparities in any given organization. It is now evident that some progress has been registered on this front even though at a slower pace than expected.

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the 2005 Fair Pay Act have so far helped women reduce pay discrepancies and have also set barriers that make it difficult for women to face such discriminations in the future (Johnson, 2014). Such legislations may be seen as small achievements but the truth of the matter is that they are important and that more needs to be done so that a greater impact can be felt. More effort has to be put in resolving these issues and must emphasize on finding a lasting solution to this problem.

Pay scale and job discriminations schemes must be thoroughly scrutinized, especially the treatment of part-time workers or other workers with other work arrangements, including bonuses or extra payments.

Eliminating the gender pay gap should be everyone's concern and the scrutiny should cover both primary and secondary working conditions, including social security schemes. Other things that need to be scrutinized include: flexibility of working time, childcare arrangements, access and use of company car, pension schemes, rules that govern employees and leave. States must respect the law, including collective agreement practices and should at the same time encourage all social partners to introduce gender neutral job classification and also empower employees to participate in identifying possible pay discrimination based on the definition of biased pay. The management should play an important role in as far as pay equity is concerned and should also create a climate that allows for sharing of careers advancement opportunities for both female and male workers.

Benefits That May Accrue from Implementing the Recommendations

Equality between men and women is important in creation of jobs. Introduction of gender perspective should help companies to (Why is it important to tackle the gender pay gap? - European Commission):

Recruit and retain best employees.

Create a good working environment and win the confidence of the employees.

Utilize the available human resources to help improve on the productivity and competitiveness of the company so as to increase value for the shareholders, and leave the customers more satisfied.

Closing the gender pay gap is important in helping create a cohesive society and helps to value and motivate women's performance so as to enhance their economic independence. When women's earnings are increased, it reduces the risk of falling into poverty. So far this risk stands at 16% in men who are over 65 years compared to the women's 22% (those over 65 years).

Women have continued to play an important role in economic growth and their talent and skills have become more valuable in developing the society. Unfortunately, the same is not reflected in the position and pay in the labor market.

Undervaluing women's work and not utilizing their skills leads to wastage of resources in the economy. If well utilized women's skills can contribute immensely to economic growth of a country.

In 2012, the European Commission proposed that any underrepresented sex in non-executive board membership should not be less than 40%, especially in public listed companies. Small and medium size enterprises are exempted from this rule. Unfortunately, currently, the numbers of men who're non-executive board members stand at 85% while the non-executive board members are 91.1%; women are underrepresented at 15% and 8.9% respectively. This proposal is expected to impact on 5,000 listed companies in the EU. It does not apply to companies with less than 250 employees and those with an annual turnover of not more than 50 million EUR. Also, it does not affect non-listed companies (Eliminating the gender pay gap: best practices around four perspectives). The directives intend to achieve 40% by 2020 for underrepresented members in public listed companies and by 2018 for listed public undertakings

Merit and qualifications will be considered in filling the board jobs and the appointment must be based on objective and gender neutral qualification criteria.

Inbuilt safeguards will eliminate unconditional automatic promotion of the underrepresented sex. Preference will be given to unrepresented sex and objective assessment will take into account the criteria that specify the individual candidates.

Conclusion

If best practice directions are anything to go by, it is clear that there is need to narrow and possibly equalize the wage gap between the genders and the underrepresented minorities. For instance, according to the report and recommendations by the European Commission, incorporating women in decision making and closing the gender gap helps to build a better society because women have contributed and continue to contribute broadly to the well-being of society. Further harmonization of wages helps to build a cohesive society. Although the gender gap has reduced in the recent past, there is need to implement equalization strategies mentioned in order to attain parity. One conspicuous element in the effort to bridge the gender wage gap is that although jurisdictions may implement a quota system in which a certain percentage of work slots will be reserved for the minorities, qualification will always be the central driving determiner of who gets these opportunities. Therefore, there is need to foster education and training for the under-represented groups. Only after such parity in knowledge and skills is attained can the gender neutralization policy serve its purpose effectively. It is also essential to take note of the wage discrepancies in same sex unions.

References

Blau, F., & Kahn, L. (2000). Gender Differences in Pay. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 14(4), 75-99. Retrieved June 13, 2016, from https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.14.4.75

CHICHILNISKY, & FREDERIKSEN. (2008). An equilibrium analysis of the gender wage gap. International Labor Review, 147(4). Retrieved, from http://www.ilo.org/public/english/revue/download/pdf/s1_chichilnisky.pdf

(n.d.). European Commission -- Choose your language -- Choisir une langue -- Wahlen Sie eine Sprache. Why is it important to tackle the gender pay gap? - European Commission. Retrieved June 13, 2016, from http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-equality/gender-pay-gap/tackle/index_en.htm

Johnson, G. (2014). The Gender Pay Gap; Continually Hurting Women. Line by Line: A Journal of Beginning Student Writing, 1(1). Retrieved June 13, 2016, from http://ecommons.udayton.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=lxl&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bing.com%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dthe%2Bgender%2Bwage%2Bgap%2Bpostive%2Baspects%2Bjournal%2Barticles%26qs%3Dn%26pq%3Dthe%

Jow. (2015). Williams Institute -- A think tank at UCLA Law dedicated to conducting rigorous, independent research on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy. Eliminating Gender Wage Gap Would Reduce LGBT Poverty, Study Shows -- Williams Institute. Retrieved June 13, 2016, from http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/press/press-releases/eliminating-gender-wage-gap-would-reduce-lgbt-poverty-study-shows

Shen, J. (2014). Recent Trends in Gender Wage Inequality in the United States. Journal of Sociological Research, 5(1). Retrieved June 13, 2016, from http://www.macrothink.org/journal/index.php/jsr/article/viewFile/6093/5165

(2012)? Eliminating the gender… READ MORE

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