Corporate sector experts break down pay parity and necessary corrections at offices

Work in progressGarrgee Deshmukh general manager HRMost large companies are certified by international organisations that demand companies look closely at factors like gender pay parity This ensures close monitoring and measuring Measurability is the first step to incorporating gender equality in policies of payIndia has witnessed an increase in women intake across engineering campuses which raises the ratio of employees hired from campuses When it comes to seniorlevel hiring focusing on women candidates is a mandate at most large organisations This creates a demand for such profiles and reflects in pay package negotiationsA key change that needs to be enabled is a shift from discussing genderbased pay parity to collective focus on equal representationand remuneration for workSteps to changeAlex Emmanuel founder director of People Plus India formerly vice president group HR Tata Sons LtdBarring a few companies equal pay is not practised across the board by most large corporations even though many claim to provide equal compensation for men and women If you check the records the reality will differ Change will come when the organisation values equality and upholds it Steps to do so include defining the organisationrsquos value system and setting the commandments of dos and donrsquots across management levels to abide by This must be published and be made public to ensure accountability Secondly decide on salary bands for job profiles If the duties and responsibilities are similar the compensation should also reflect it Lastly women are pushed out of jobs due to lesser pay and denied promotions or increments based on prejudices maternity leave or the fact that companies donrsquot want to provide transportation for late working hours or travelling and other personal biases Such biased mindsets must also be correctedA long way to goJolly Balva financial services professionalThe common practice in India is to base salary negotiations entirely on the previous cost to company drawn by the candidate This can disadvantage those who have been shortchanged even once in their career mostly due to gender pay according to several surveys and studies Instead companies can choose to work with a pay range for a particular job role and offer salaries by matching the candidatersquos skills knowledge and experienceIndia is at the bottom rung particularly on lsquoEconomic Participation and Opportunityrsquo according to the Gender Pay Index by World Economic Forum To ensure equal pay an entire paradigm shift is required Organisations can work towards improving their policies with regards to hiring opportunities retention and promotions and check for unconscious biases across these processes There is also a need to improve awareness and provide training to leaders within the organisation on these aspectsLetrsquos talk about itPurnota Dutta Bahl founder and CEO of Cuddles FoundationThere is a massive gap in the average of what men and women earn respectively This ties back to systemic issues First is the disparity in professions Men are encouraged towards highpaying industries like technology finance and startups and from an early age women are encouraged to take the softer subjects Secondly since women have an unequal share in childcare they are forced to drop out of the workforce Itrsquos a nobrainer from there to trace other issues when it comes to unequal pay and opportunities for promotions If you compare apples to apples men and women at the same job profile might make similar earnings but thatrsquos not always straight forward Itrsquos also harder for women to reach that level let alone negotiate what they deserve The first step towards change is conversation especially with business ownersThe triumphant Indian womenrsquos cricket team at the 2022 Asia Cup earlier this month Pic Courtesy JayShah on TwitterMaking progressGermaine Pereira partner Solomon amp Co Advocates amp SolicitorsBCCIrsquos announcement is a proud moment for sportswomen because otherwise it was sad to see that women cricketers werenrsquot compensated in the same bracket The same should apply for Indian women who play other nationallevel sports In whitecollar sectors and corporate industries there isnrsquot much of a difference in pay packages To ensure parity in pay a review is needed to identify gaps in remuneration structures and a standard can be set in place irrespective of gender Corporates can implement regular training mentorship and professional development to ensure that no inequality and biases ariseLegislative supportVaidehee Chhatre Kotegar founder and partner ConsultCorp LegalAlthough most MNCs have been revising their policies there are many midsized and local companies in the corporate sector that are very prejudiced in their approach towards women mdash from selection to payments and maternity leave Indian law has been revised time and again to improve this situation For instance the Equal Remuneration Act 1976 explicitly addresses unequal pay and also lays down penalties in Section 10 of the said Act Some time ago the Supreme Court passed a judgement based on this issue in the case of the State of Punjab and Others versus Jagjit Singh and Others where it was held that an employee engaged for the same work cannot be paid less than another who performs the same duties and responsibilities and certainly not in a welfare stateI also want to highlight that Article 14 15 and 16 of the Indian Constitution guarantees the fundamental rights of equality before law protection against any kind of discrimination and equal opportunities in the matters of public employmentDespite these efforts awareness must be created at the grassroots level through radio television and newspapers about the changing policies because many people continue to be unaware of their rights due to a lack of access to information Families and children must be taught the importance of the financial independence of women Most importantly secondary income holders of houses mostly women must be given further tax benefits These are a few of the numerous aspects that can be helpful keeping in mind that women continue to face many struggles at their workplace