Tag: unequal pay

As we celebrate Women’s Month in South Africa, this is a time to reflect on the pivotal role male allies can play in amplifying women’s voices in the workplace, particularly in leadership roles.

Gender inequality is still rampant throughout society and in the workplace, it can take on many forms -  disparity in promotions, unequal pay and less leadership roles. While this is often the case in big corporations and civil society, we should also be turning a lens towards the education sector, where gender inequality is even more pronounced.

I am sure all of you have seen the movie 'What women want' starring Helen Hunt. Believe me, you don’t have to go that far to understand what women in the workplace truly want. You can just ask! As the end of Women's Month drew to a close, I reflected a bit on the journey as a woman in the workplace.

The world over companies are facing enormous pressure under the ‘new or never normal’, as the COVID-19 pandemic is highlighting, and in some cases, deepening existing workplace inequalities. Gender mainstreaming in the workplace still has a long way to go and the time is now that we give it the attention it deserves – not only through women’s month, but throughout the year.

Research shows that COVID-19 has caused women greater economic hardship than men. Women’s month is an opportunity to address larger societal issues such as equality, poverty and income security. Women must be financially independent to be fully empowered.

Some attempts have been made by the government and NGOs to advocate for more equal rights for women. Few months ago, President Ramaphosa announced his new cabinet in which half of all ministers are women. However, the private sector has been slower on the uptake. The world of business is still very much dominated by men.

The Employment Equity Act (EEA) known as the ‘equality clause’ was recently amended to make more explicit the remedy for unequal pay based on discrimination. Prior to this, the act did not specifically deal with wage discrimination on the basis of race or gender, despite the Labour Court having held that there were no reasons why equal pay claims should not be claimed in terms of the Act.