Posted: June 5th, 2015

Woman and Men Should Be Equally Compensated For Equivalent Job Roles

Introduction

To achieve equality in payment between women and men in what is a highly market driven environment such as China and USA, a systematic approach to help in the determination of pay is advisable. One should be taking into consideration some of the market forces and other important factors affecting individuals’ pay such as competencies, seniority, and performance. A transparent pay system that will try to remunerate employees about the value of their work and contributions is more effective. Remuneration is always good as it prevents the making of the discretionary and disorganized pay decisions (Edgeworth, 1922). The results of practicing equal pay extend past the elimination of pay discrimination between women and men. The Fair pay practices tend to have a positive impact on the workers, and it also enhances the employee engagement. The cost and risk of litigation for an equal pay by employees would also reduce.

Gender discrimination at workplace is receiving a lot of address in several forums. Among the most notable legislative provisions is the Medical and family Leave Act of 1993,” The Act requires that a woman who is on leave receives her full pay. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 was stating that every person has right of equal pay for the same kind of employment. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is primarily important in ensuring that every employee receives an equal share of what they deserve (Tannen, 2001). The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 is primarily important for the employees especially the women. The employees are having the protection from exploitation from the employers. Whenever the woman is pregnant, she should continue receiving her pay normally. The Civil Rights Act of the year 1991. The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment has also been in use as a tool to challenge laws and policies. The laws that discriminate against women, and to define a constitutional minimum to which the law must adhere with respect to gender equity in employment (Tannen, 2001).

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 is the most recent attempt by the Congress to try and address gender inequalities in employment. It also plays a role in the maintenance of the family in the contemporary society, and it was the first attempt to articulate a national family leave standard. Employers must continue with the health-care coverage of their employees during the leave (Waldfogel, 1998). The employer should also guarantee reinstatement of the employee to the same or a comparable position. Many Employers may, prefer to exempt from covering their “key” employees, who happen to be their highest-paid employees. The employers exempt them because their leave may cause economic harm to the employer (Edgeworth, 1922).

Employers should make sure that any woman employee who is pregnant and has to go for maternity leave the employer must make ensure that she continues to receive her pay. Most of the time women in the employment sector tend to become victims of the circumstance. It is always not fair for employers not to pay women whenever they go on maternity leave. Men also contribute to the pregnancy and whenever a woman is not at work she should receive her salary the same way men receive their salary. It will be very unfair for men to continue receiving their salaries while their wives are not receiving the salary they deserve (Waldfogel, 1998).

Most of the time, women tend to become emotional and make it hard to deal with them. Employers should not take advantage of the situation so that they can reduce the women’s salary. Sometimes the women can be distracted because of emotional stress, and the bosses should try to offer them that emotional support and not to victimize them.

Reference

Edgeworth, F. Y. (1922). Equal pay to men and women for equal work. The Economic Journal, 431-457.

Tannen, D. (2001). Talking from 9 to 5: Women and Men at Work. Quill.

Waldfogel, J. (1998). Understanding the” family gap” in pay for women with children. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 137-156.