Gender Pay Gap

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6 yrs ago

Image result for image for gender pay gp

On the eve of International Women's Day, one of Australia's biggest energy companies has thrown down the gauntlet on equal pay.

Energy Australia has shut the gender pay gap, announcing women will be paid the same as male colleagues for doing the same job.

The company is spending $1.2 million to boost the pay packets of 350 women who were getting less than their male counterparts, and promising a review in five years to ensure men have not negotiated their way back on top.

Energy Australia's managing director, Catherine Tanna, who also sits on the Reserve Bank board, apologised that it had taken so long to fix the problem.

"I am really pleased that we're able to say this year, 2018, at Energy Australia, we're bridging that gap," she told The Business.

"But I'm sorry that it's taken so long and that our women at Energy Australia have had to wait for this day."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-07/energy-australia-closes-gender-pay-gap-overnight/9524770

Way to go!!!

12 comments

Excellent move by the Energy Council, let's hope many other companies follow their example!

Great move to happen on International Women's Day, KIAH. Times are achanging.

Daisy

6 yrs ago

About bloody time!

I wouldnt get too excited.

The stupid CEO never explained how the gap came to exist

If it were true then the female employees should take the company to court for back pay with interest

Its a publicity stunt

I can't believe this - has Energy Australia been operating under Australian non-discrimination rules or were they breaking the law?

Where are the men in Energy Australia who may have any concerns about this news i.e. is anyone getting Fair Work Commission to check out whether each such case (of being underpaid because the person is a woman) is true or not?

Banjo

6 yrs ago

This is a great step forward KIAH.

Thank you for the article Banjo. I shall have a good look at it later and have sent you an email.

catsahoy

6 yrs ago

NOT before time, i used to get sick of cooking in big kitchens, getting paid a pittance, doing all the work, while the greasy cook sat on his arse and did nothing, about time this was brought in,

Sophie

6 yrs ago

Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop has received a rousing reception at the United Nations in New York while delivering a speech to mark International Women's Day.

"A special shout out to the women for this is your day!" Ms Bishop said, to cheers in the UN General Assembly.

Image result for julie bishop at united nations on international women day

You can listen to her speech here...

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/julie-bishop-delivers-rousing-un-women-s-day-speech

Sophie

6 yrs ago

Yes KIAH..it’s a wonderful development which is long overdue and I hope it’s only the beginning. Yesterday there were some really inspiring speakers at an event I attended here in Perth…the venue was packed out. We have so many talented and strong women in our community. I was a little surprised to learn that Western Australia has the highest gender pay gap in the country!

I read this today and this is another eye opener…

“Women in the UK effectively work for free for more than two months a year because of the country’s gender pay gap, according to the TUC.

In a report published to coincide with International Women’s Day, the trade union body called on the government to require employers to carry out pay audits and produce action plans to close the gap in their workplace.”

With all of this going on..prospects for women are looking up and the glass ceiling may be well and truly shattered in due course!

Sack this woman! She is overpaid, has achieved nothing, wastes taxpayers money on pretend-partners and other expenses, and also throws our taxpayers money at foreign causes to lift her own profile.

Why has Energy Australia not fallen into line with all other industries in Australia which have been paying equal pay for decades. Whitlam introduced the equal pay concept in the early 1970's and Energy Australia should be made to explain the gap.

Suze

6 yrs ago

Energy Australia should have to backpay the wages with interest to all their employees since the early 1970's.

Tib

6 yrs ago

Great idea Suze if the CEO is right they have been Breaking the law. I would like to see a massive compensation claim including interest and a massive fine to go with it. I am sure it would do tremendous things for the CEOs profile.

MICK

6 yrs ago

Another femilist article. They seem to be coming every other day.

I thought there were laws that required employers to not discriminate on the basis of sex.

Poor journaliam

any reasonable journalist would have done an investigation as to how this fake situation came about

either the CEO is lying or she is giving some female employees an unfair pay rise at the expense of their male counterparts

Tib

6 yrs ago

Raphael it's probably an unfair pay rise to women less qualified and who do less work. It must have some companies thinking its a bad idea to have a female CEO. I hope they sue the company for back pay and it gets a nice fine to go with it. It would also make me smile if their underpaid male workforce finds a better employer. Let this company keep the female dregs.

"female dregs"????

What a disgusting thing to say.

Sums up how many men in society view women. ....those types of views are typical of a great many in society...thankfully those men are about to leave the workforce or have left or on their last legs.

Adrianus

6 yrs ago

I find that generally people get paid what they're worth. If people are doing the same job regardless of their sex they generally would get the same pay. That is unless of course some people were high performers and are rewarded by pay increases, again regardless of sex.

This grandstanding announcement by Energy Australia makes me think that 350 women were paid less than their male peers simply because they are women? If this is the case then back pay is due along with a fine for breaking the law.

The gender pay gap is gradually narrowing in lower paid jobs, but when you consider more women than men leave university holding degrees, it's surprising they don't have equal footing with males on Boards and CEO level jobs. That's where attention should be directed.

Adrianus

6 yrs ago

Look, dont get me wrong. I dont want to sound like an anti-feminist but this special announcment by Catherine Tanna seems a little political to me.

Catherine Tanna has been MD of Energy Australia, a company which is 100% owned by Chinese company CLP, for almost 4 years and did not notice that 350 female employees were being underpaid??? Spare me?!

Tanna is also on the board of the RBA for the last 7 years so I imagine she is not one of the women being underpaid? I wonder if she sold her $3m home?

Sophie

6 yrs ago

Catherine Tanna was raised in Gladstone and a graduate of Gladstone State High School.. she has become a globally successful business woman, and credits her parents Reg and Norma Tanna with instilling an outcomes-focussed approach. She was not born with a silver spoon..certainly a woman to be admired..particularly like her quote..

"Be true to yourself, act like an owner, if you're unsure about what to do, just imagine it's your business."

Adrianus

6 yrs ago

Who cares if she was born with a silver spoon? Nothing to do with the subject.

I am starting to think that the women may not have been underpaid for all those years?

Glad this thread has reappeared. Could not find it a couple of days ago under all the debris. Some interesting comments, others can do with a bit of work!! Yes Sophie, Catherine Tanna did not grow up one of the privileged, came from a hard working family of Lebanese immigrants. I am as impressed as you are, because I believe a person's early life and character has a lot to do with how they handle their work life and values.

I read this the other day and happy to see, in other parts of the world, some at the top do have a conscience and willing to do something about it:

"Nearly 800 medical professionals and students in the Canadian province of Quebec have signed a petition to actively campaign against an increase negotiated by their medical federation.

Instead, the signatories of the Medicins Quebecois Pour le Regime Public (MQRP) letter want the money better distributed among nurses and spent improving the state-run medical services for the people in Canada's second-most populous province."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-10/why-hundreds-of-quebec-doctors-want-a-lower-salary/9535384

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