What is Pay Equity?
Pay Equity means paying different jobs of
similar value, skill, responsibility and working conditions equitably. From a
gender perspective, that means ensuring female dominated jobs are paid
equitably to male dominated jobs of similar value and worth to the
organization.
What is Equal Pay for Equal Work?
Equal Pay for Equal Work, sometimes referred
to simply as ‘Equal Pay,’ means ensuring women and men are paid the same or
equitably for doing the same job. For example – a female librarian should be
paid the same as a male librarian.
What is the Gender Pay Gap?
In
Columbus, the gender pay gap is 81 cents to $1, meaning women make 81 cents for
every dollar a man makes. (1) Nationally, women earn 80 cents for every dollar a
man makes. There is an even larger disparity for women of color. (2)
Will an employer signing the Columbus Commitment be submitting data?
The Columbus Commitment is voluntary and employer-led, and does
not require companies or organizations to submit pay or employment data to the
City of Columbus or the Columbus Women’s Commission. We do encourage companies
to share progress made since signing the Commitment. The intent is to share
best practices and experiences with other signatories in order to improve our
community’s overall gender and race-based wage gap and achieve pay equity.
Who attends the Best Practices event each year?
The Best Practices event
is intended for high level executives, decision makers and leadership within
organizations. It is likely the Columbus Women’s Commission will hold other
events throughout the year that may be best suited toward other employees in
the organization (such as human resources professionals, diversity and
inclusion professionals, managers and entry level employees).
Where can I get more resources to help my organization address these issues?
The Columbus Women’s
Commission will provide support in connecting companies and organizations to
resources to address these issues. Click here for resources.
Sources
- http://www.womensfundcentralohio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Spark_EqualPay_v8_web.pdf
- National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) calculations based on U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2016 Annual Social and Economic Supplement
What is the timeline?
Achieving pay equity and closing the gender based wage gap is a
multi-faceted, complicated issue that includes overcoming difficult cultural
and social norms. We know there are no simple solutions, but believe
concentrated efforts produce results. Every organization, industry and sector
faces different challenges when it comes to gender based pay equity. Each
organization is encouraged to set its own timeline and goals in order to be
successful.