Will equal pay law close wage gaps?
Saturday January 06 2018
World over, pay discrimination mostly against women remains deeply entrenched. PHOTO | FILE
The age-old quest by women for equal pay could get a boost if countries borrow a leaf from Iceland, which last week passed legislation prohibiting gender salary gaps.
Iceland’s equal pay law obligates employers to pay female workers the same as men for the same job, making the Arctic country the first to ban compensation disparities based on gender.
“Iceland’s idea is a step forward that should be emulated by East African countries,” said the executive director of African Women’s Development and Communication Network Dinah Msindarwezo.
Burundi and Rwanda are among 13 countries in the world that have closed more than 80 per cent of their economic participation and opportunity gender gaps.
The other East African countries — Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia — still have a long way to go to achieve equal economic participation and opportunity for women, having been ranked 44th, 59th, 69th and 109th respectively in the index.
The estimated gross national income per capita for males in Kenya was $3,405 in 2015, about 45 per cent more than the $2,357 for females, according to the UNDP 2016 report Human Development for Everyone.
According to the Uganda National Household Survey Dataset (2012/13) Ugandan women earned 41 per cent of what men in similar positions were paid.
“Governments should establish frequent gender audits to expose these disparities and put in place mechanisms to ensure employers give equal pay,” said Ms Msindarwezo.
Median monthly earnings for men in 2014 were on average 17 per cent more than those of women according to the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
In 2017, the World Economic Forum estimated that it would take close to 217 years, up from 170 years a year earlier, meaning gender disparities were widening.
In September, the UN, the International Labour Organisation and OECD formed the Equal Pay International Coalition as part of efforts to raise women’s pay across the world to equal men’s.
“One hundred years is too long to wait, and we must all work together to make equal pay for work of equal value a reality,” said Guy Ryder, Director-General of ILO.
However, as countries begin to pass legislations to ban gender pay discrimination, policy experts and women rights activists think achieving gender parity in East Africa will require more than administrative decree.
Ms Msindarwezo said the focus on wages was a small fraction in the realm of proprietary rights that determine income and wealth with women still disadvantaged in ownership of resources such as land.
“The EAC should address overall discrimination based on gender as this is the root cause of gender pay gap,” she added.
Other factors to pay gaps in East Africa relate to socialisation where men earn more for factors not specific to the job.
“Comparative analysis has shown that men could be earning more because of better negotiation skills,” said Gatete Nyiringabo Ruhumuliza, a human-rights lawyer and policy advisor.