Would seeing colleagues’ salaries help close gender pay gap in SA?
Would you vote 'yay' or 'nay' for this to happen in South Africa? This is something that Finland's government plans to implement.
Gender equality is very much a sensitive topic in any space. Whether that is in general or in the workspace, it can be something that creates a lot of tension and discomfort amidst employees and employers.
In fact, recent research has revealed that many men are still earning more money than women in the workplace. We are not sure if this is an industry perspective, but it was revealed by SARS that this was the case in South Africa not long ago.
However, we must acknowledge that not all businesses operate in this manner. In fact, some countries are trying to evolve when it comes to addressing gender equality and the salary differences between males and females.
The Finland government is for one, trying to create a fairer way of dealing with the discrimination between genders in terms of salary slips. However, we are uncertain as to whether this is something that will solve gender equality, in fact it feels like it may be adding fuel to the fire...
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"The Finnish government is planning a new law allowing workers to check what their colleagues are earning if they suspect they are being discriminated against, part of a bid to close the wage gap between men and women." (Reuters)
There is a mixed reaction from unions in Finland, with some saying there they would like more transparency, while others are on the same page as us and think it may cause more conflict than transparency.
We're not sure if this is the best way forward, besides the fact that this is confrontational, how is this a resolution to the inequality?
If anything, those in the position of authority should address this in a reconciliation way, as opposed to confrontational. What if seeing the pay slip erupts other emotions and inequalities, that were unforeseen? These are all questions we should be asking.
Nevertheless, we think that this should come from a place of therapy, coaching, and healing.
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