Equity is more important than equality in a truly progressive and welfare society. Understanding the gender pay gap can help highlight the importance of equity for employee wages. In the US, women earn 15 percent less on average than men. While one of the contributors to gender pay gap is wage discrimination by employers, it also exists for women choosing different and less-paying careers than men.

Granted that the gender pay gap exists for various reasons, businesses must play their role in bridging it as best as possible to become an inclusive workplace. Here are three ways businesses, specifically their HR departments, can help bridge the gender pay gap:

Offer Uniform Employee Packages

It isn’t uncommon for HR to not define the salary for a vacancy. Instead, they define a range of potential salaries and finalize the salary according to the candidate’s previous experience and salary. Of course, this practice further enhances the gender pay gap.

 

It shouldn’t matter to HR if a candidate has three or five years of experience. If they have the knowledge and skills to fulfill the responsibilities of the role they are applying for, especially when the HR believes in their capabilities, offering a candidate a lower pay is unfair. Women take career breaks for various reasons, which should in no way impact their potential income when they decide to join the workforce. If a candidate can be hired, they deserve to be hired for the maximum salary.

Practice Bias-Free Promotions and Increments

As much as it is essential to onboard employees at uniform pay as per their position in the company, it is also vital to provide equal opportunities for growth to all employees. Equal growth opportunities open doors for fair performance analysis, bias-free promotions, and increments.

 

To make it easy, HR must ensure that every employee receives equal training, equal chances to participate in healthy competition at work, and the same employee benefits. For example, men and women should receive equal leaves for the birth of their children. While many would argue that women should receive more leaves since they carry and deliver the child, equal leaves for men will help in two ways:

  • It will eliminate the potential regression in women’s careers after utilizing maternity leave.
  • It will promote equal parental responsibilities toward the child at home, which can significantly help with women’s equality and eliminate the gender pay gapin the long run.

Be Transparent About Employee Wages

Transparency is one of the most important qualities of a progressive business. While transparency can apply to various business aspects, adopting it on employee wages is especially important. Transparency on employee wages means a business doesn’t stop employees from discussing their salaries.

 

Needless to say, it goes hand in hand with paying employees fairly and uniformly according to their responsibilities and position in the company. Though companies must never disclose the employee salaries themselves, not stopping employees from discussing their wages builds their trust in the company.

 

Finally, developing fair performance analysis tools and standard requirements for high-paying jobs that don’t take into account the gender of any candidate can significantly help HR bridge the gender pay gap.