Unless you’re paying us properly, please pipe down this International Women’s Day

The Australian gender pay gap report has exposed big business and it’s the best thing to happen to women and our workforce in a long time.

In the lead-up to International Women’s Day, companies around the world have been plastering pics of women and pledging their allegiance to lifting up and supporting the sisterhood. And, while some are putting their money where their mouth is, quite a few of Australia’s biggest corporations should be feeling the pangs of a pretty severe moral hangover.

#ICYMI, despite equal pay legislation existing for over 50 years, the Australian government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) gender pay gap report dropped a bombshell last week, revealing some disappointing discrepancies in how much women are paid in this country.

With a median gender pay gap favouring men sitting at 19%, Australia’s is higher than both the UK’s (14%) and the US’ (18%) with nearly two-thirds of Aussie companies sitting above the WGEA target range of -5 to 5%. In saying that, at some of Australia’s most well-known businesses, it’s far greater — Jetstar’s is 43.7%, Qantas (37%), Virgin (41.7%), Commonwealth Bank (29.9%), and Morgan Stanley a shocking 48.2%. WOEFUL.

Of course, there are several factors at play here. Women tend to dominate industries that are nurturing in nature like nursing and education that for some reason or another, are lower paid. Women take more time out of the workforce to have children and care for family members than men, who typically hold roles in industries like construction and finance where wages are higher. Add a slice of board-level bias that favours the male, pale and stale, a baby bonus for the boys (while women’s salaries suffer, the guys get an uptick in their pay, it’s f*d up I know), a society that calls assertive men ‘leaders’ and women with the same attributes ‘bossy’, and you’ve got yourself a pretty perfect pay gap storm.

If you’ve just had your pants pulled down over this in public, then I beg of you — please STFU this year about how amazing the women on your team are. Clearly, your bottom line doesn’t think so. Pull your head in, SIT down, LOOK around, LISTEN and DO THE DAMN WORK.

What’s the work? I’m glad you asked:

• Offer equal paid parental leave REGARDLESS of who is the primary carer. Actively encourage the fathers on your team to TAKE IT. And if you’re one of the many businesses that actually don’t offer any parental leave outside of what the government provides, for the love of God, START NOW.
• Rethink your hiring practices and who is leading your recruitment efforts. Studies have shown that we mirror ourselves in who we hire. Like hires like. White hires white. Ensure women (and on that note, people from all sorts of backgrounds) are part of the hiring and decision-making process. Stop encouraging people to ask themselves if they could have a beer with the person sitting across from them, and rather get them to consider if they’re the right person for the job.
• Revisit your criteria for a pay rise. Stop waiting for employees to ask for one before it is granted. Research shows that men are more likely to ask for more money and more often, than women. Rather, review performance and remuneration with quarterly (or at least, biannual) check-ins. Make sure you’re actually abiding by equal pay law, it’s disgraceful that so many aren’t.
• Offer women more flexible work arrangements regardless of how senior the position is. This means more women at the executive level as they won’t be held back by caring duties, having to take extended time out of the workforce or taking on casual/part-time work only.
• Get to the grassroots. So many companies focus their efforts at the tertiary level, but by then, it’s too late. Plant the seed early while the workforce of the future is still in school and actively looking for work experience. Fifteen-year-olds are the ones considering their options (and future HECS debts) before the looming deadline of adulthood officially sets in. Early recruitment efforts in high schools to encourage girls to embark on a career in engineering, medicine, construction and finance will no doubt result in more women bankers, builders and C-Suite execs in the next 10–20 years.

This report, while shocking, is arguably the best thing to happen to business and women in this country in a long time. The cat’s out of the bag, and there’s nowhere to run if you employ more than 100 people.

Now’s your opportunity to fix it. So that next IWD, you can shout from the rooftops about the changes you’re making.

And Albo — if you’re reading this — make childcare free. More women would return to work sooner if it wasn’t so costly to do so.

It’s 2024, and while we can’t ‘have it all’, we at least deserve an equal share.