Introduction
Occupational segregation by gender remains one of the brightest features of labor markets in the developed world. Much has been written and said about the ways, in which gender is shaping occupational policies and organizational decisions. Despite the growing number of legislative acts and equity regulations, gender is still one of the main factors of wage decisions in modern organizations. At the same time, organizations and countries develop policies to strengthen the atmosphere of fairness in the workplace.
Equal pay policies have a long history that dates back to the nineteenth century. The goal of equal pay policies is to address the differences in wages paid to women and men, who fulfill the same amount of work. Unfortunately, many equal pay policies do not lead to any positive results, and the goal of this paper is to see how equal pay policies work in a number of countries and why they do not help to reduce the existing gender pay gap.
Equal Pay Policies – Meaning, Significance, and Current Situation
Equal pay legislation is one of the most popular topics in literature. The drive for gender equality in the workplace justifies the growing importance of equal pay policies in countries and organizations.
Fitzpatrick, Kwon, Manning, and Pascall describe three important elements of equal pay policies: equal wages for the equal amount of work; equal wages for the work that is similar or substantially similar; and equal pay for comparable work (414). As of today, most industrialized countries offer equal wages for the work that is similar or substantially similar, and only now they realize the importance of comparable worth policies in reducing gender gaps in wages.
The history of equal pay policies dates back to the nineteenth century, with Great Britain being the first industrialized society to recognize the problem of gender pay gaps (Fitzpatrick et al. 414). In 1888, the British Trades Union Congress passed new legislation to promote equal pay for equal amounts of work (Fitzpatrick et al. 414).
At that time, many trade unions were not confident that equal pay policies were important, but the growing number of women in the workforce pushed organizations and business owners to review their approaches to wages. In 1914, Canada became the second country in the world to vote against the exclusion of women from the workforce and for the provision of equal pay for women and men (Fitzpatrick et al. 414).
Women entered trade unions, thus getting stronger in their demands for equal pay. After the end of the Second World War, North America saw thousands of women participate in equal pay campaigns (Fitzpatrick et al. 414). The movement towards equal pay in the civil service was faster than in private organizations (Fitzpatrick et al. 414).
In the post-war period, many countries decided to adopt equal pay policies. In 1963, the United States passed its first equal pay laws, followed by Great Britain in 1970 (Fitzpatrick et al. 415). The Equal Pay Act in Great Britain came in force later in 1975 (Fitzpatrick et al. 415). Internationally, equal pay policies became a top priority at the beginning of the 1950s.
The International Labor Organization turned equal pay into one of its primary conventions in 1951 (Fitzpatrick et al. 415). The principles of equal pay were also included in the European Union’s Treaty of Rome of 1957. Today, both the United States and the United Kingdom have a broad range of legislative acts, laws and regulations that have to reduce and eliminate gender gaps in wages.
In the United States, the Equal Pay Act requires that all employers pay their employees equal wages for equal work (Inc.). The Equal Pay Act is an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act passed in 1963.
The Act was passed to protect women and men from the negative impacts of gender on their wages and, at the same time, eliminate the notion of sex discrimination in the workplace. Today, the Act covers all employees, as well as managers, executives, administrators, and elementary and secondary school teachers. At the same time, the philosophy of equal pay policies in the United Kingdom is based on the principles of equality in labor and wages adopted by the European Union.
The U.K. is facing unique gender discrimination challenges, which make it different from other European countries and the U.S. At present, the UK has one of the largest gender pay gaps in Europe, mostly because of the lack of collective bargaining and historically high levels of wage inequality (Rubery). Additionally, the United Kingdom has a higher share of women working in part-time jobs, and the differences in wages across full-time and part-time jobs in the U.K. are the highest in Europe (Rubery).
As a result, despite the years devoted to equal pay polices in the United States and Great Britain, the gender pay gap continues to persist. In 2009, gender wage gaps were one of the strongest features of labor markets in the U.S. (Hegewisch, Liepmann, Hayes & Hartmann 1).
In the same year, female workers earned slightly more than 80.2 percent of what male workers earned in the same occupation (Hegewisch et al. 2). Between 1980 and 1990, the gender wage gap somewhat narrowed, but the Equal Pay Act was of little significance in those changes (Inc.).
Reasons for which equal pay policies have had little impact on the gender pay gap are numerous, including different names assigned to the same jobs performed by men and women; slight differences in the obligations and tasks performed; and the growing concentration of women in the so-called “female” occupations (Fitzpatrick et al. 415-6). As such, equal pay policies do not always provide a good solution to the problem of gender wage gaps.
Findings
The results indicate that it has become a tradition for the industrialized world to pass equal pay policies with the goal of reducing gender pay gaps. Many developed countries, such as Canada, the United States, and Great Britain, have developed laws and regulations to help women and men earn equal wages. Still, “women were quick to discover that equal pay for equal work or similar work laws could not address in any substantial way the wage gap between men and women” (Fitzpatrick et al. 416).
As such, the main finding is that equal pay policies remain nothing but a piece of paper written in the best traditions of democracy, equality and fairness, but without any real effects on gender pay gaps. Like many years ago, women earn much less than their male colleagues, and chances that the situation will improve in the nearest future are very poor.
Persuasion and Personal Opinions: Assessment and Evaluation
The topic means a lot to me, because I am a college girl, who will soon have to seek prospective employment. I have seen that, in all countries that have equal pay policies, these policies do not work as effectively as they should. In my opinion, the problem is both in the nature of these laws and the ideology behind the decisions in modern organizations.
Laws that promote equal pay for the equal amount of work are no longer relevant. What the society needs is to pass the so-called “comparable worth” laws while, at the same time, promote a series of non-legal approaches to gender. For example, in Australia, the industrial relations system is used to address the situation (Fitzpatrick et al. 416).
Also, comparable worth laws could address the ways, in which women and men are paid for qualitatively comparable work (Boushey 30). It is high time for the developed world to change its opinions of the gender pay gap and admit that it is still as relevant as several decades ago. However, in light of the numerous factors that influence pay structures in organizations, it is possible to say that even the best laws will not eliminate the existing wage gaps by gender.
Conclusion
In conclusion, equal pay policies have a long history in the developed world. Most industrialized countries have equal pay policies to reduce the gender gap in wages. However, the results suggest that such policies do not work as effectively as intended. Gender gaps in wages continue to persist. Non-legislative methods and comparable worth policies could certainly help. However, because numerous factors influence wages in organizations, even the best laws may not succeed in reducing the existing gender gaps in earnings.
Works Cited
Bouschey, Heather. “Is ‘Comparable Worth’ Worth It? The Potential Effects of Pay Equity Policies in New York.” Regional Labor Review, 2000. Web. https://www.hofstra.edu/pdf/academics/colleges/hclas/cld/cld_rlr_f00_compworth.pdf
Fitzpatrick, Tony, Huck-Ju Kwon, Nick Manning, James Midgley and Gillian Pascall. International Encyclopedia of Social Policy. London: Routledge, 2013. Print.
Hegewisch, Ariane, Hannah Liepmann, Jeffrey Hayes and Heidi Hartmann. Separate and Not Equal? Gender Segregation in the Labor Market and the Gender Wage Gap. Institute for Women’s Policy Research, 2010. Print.
Inc. “Equal Pay for Equal Work.” Inc., 1999. Web. https://www.inc.com/articles/1999/10/14713.html
Rubery, Jill. “Equal Pay and Europe.” Union History, 2007. Web. http://www.unionhistory.info/equalpay/roaddisplay.php?irn=785