Let’s face it, women get a bad deal in business. Despite the rights and status of women improving over the last 100 years, there remain some major inequalities in the corporate world. Whether its women not being promoted into senior positions at KPMG, or women being paid less to do the same job as their male counterparts at AstraZeneca, these stories are not unusual or one off. We are all aware of the barriers women face at work.
So what are companies doing about it? Well on the face of it quite a lot. Nearly 200 companies are signatories to the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles. Most major businesses have gender equality policies and external commitments towards diversity. But when you look at the hard facts you have to question whether these pledges are only skin deep. In the UK, the pay difference between men and women has decreased over the last 10 years, but according to the Office for National Statistics there was still a 10.2% gap in 2010. In specific roles this gap was even higher, up at 21.6% amongst directors in major companies and 23.6% for lawyers.
With so much effort and campaigning already put into tackling this issue, are there any real solutions? Lord Davies, in his 2011 ‘Women on Boards’ report, said companies should challenge themselves to increase the proportion of female directors to 25% by 2015. PwC recently suggested that the EU could introduce new legislation to penalise businesses that do not comply with gender equality rules. This type of forced approach has its supporters, but also its fair share of detractors both female and male. The key for me is transparency. Gender audits on pay and seniority are one way of identifying and shaming employers who don’t treat women fairly. Whether this is the solution or not, there needs to be some significant steps forward if we are to have a truly equal workplace.
Chad is a Senior Consultant at Corporate Citizenship. Contact him at chad.rogerson@corporate-citizenship.com to discuss assurance, community, impacts, new business, stakeholder engagmet and strategy development
KPMG sued for gender discrimination KPMG, one of the Big Four accountancy firms faces gender discrimination class action by one of its previous employees. Almost 50% of KPMG employees are women, however only 18% of all KPMG partners are women and there is only one woman on the 24 -member global board. According to law firm Sanford Wittels & Heisler, KPMG promotes fewer women to Partner than the industry average (23%) and fewer women to Senior Manager (35%) than the industry average (44%). Donna Kassman, worked in KPMG’s New York office for seventeen years before resigning as a result of eledged gender discrimination. The former senior manager filed a $350 million class action discrimination lawsuit against the company in June.
Carbon neutrality employee benefits scheme developed
NYSE Euronext has pioneered an employee benefits scheme which offers employees the opportunity to become carbon neutral. The scheme, developed by Carbon Retirement in partnership with Truestone Employee Benefits, uses the EU emissions trading scheme to engage employees with carbon reduction. Carbon Retirement will buy EU emissions allowances on behalf of employees, permanently removing them from the system so that they can’t be used. This is the first time an employee benefit scheme has dealt with carbon neutrality in this way, and this innovative approach to corporate responsibility has contributed to NYSE Euronext being nominated for the “Most effective benefits strategy for organisations with fewer than 1,000 UK staff” award, run by Employee Benefits Magazine.
AstraZeneca will pay 124 women employees a total of $250,000 to settle a law suit regarding gender discrimination bought by the United States Labor Department. The sales specialists were subjected to pay discrimination at the company’s Philadelphia Business Centre in Wayne, Pa. where they were paid on average $1,700 less than there male counterparts. The pharmaceutical company was found to have violated Executive Order 11246 by failing to meet its obligations as a federal contractor to ensure employees were paid fairly regardless of sex, race, colour, natural origin or religion. AstraZeneca has also agrees to work with OFCCP to conduct a statistical analysis of the base pay of full time sales specialists.
The Pension Quality Mark has been awarded to L’Oreal for its good contribution rates, which were well known by employers and clearly communicated to staff. L’Oreal is the 110th employer to receive this recognition, taking the total number of employees covered by a PQM recognised pension to 200,000. PQM was launched by the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF), aiming to raise employer’s awareness of the importance of providing good pensions to staff. To qualify for the mark pension schemes need total contribution rates of at least 10% and must have low charges, good governance and clear communication with scheme members.
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development survey shows older workers often neglected
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Employee Development (CIPD) released a new survey The Employee Outlook: Focus on an Ageing Workforce. The survey of over 2,000 employees highlights the need for employees to manage the needs of older employees effectively, particularly before the faze out of the default retirement age. The survey found that less than half the workers questioned (46%) aged 65 and above have had a formal appraisal once a year or more recently, contrasting with the 65% of all employees who had appraisals a year or less apart. Older workers are also less likely than younger workers to have received training, according to the survey which showed 51% of those over 65 saying they had received no training in the past three years compared to 32% across all age groups.
Company bosses are increasingly committing more fraud
A global survey by KPMG has found that company bosses, including those working within the chief executive or managing director’s office are increasingly committing more fraud. The survey found that 18% of all fraud is committed by board members in 2011, an increase from 11% in 2007. The company also used data from previous investigations into fraud globally to pinpoint the typical fraudster, finding that they would work in the finance-function or a finance related-role (32%) often for more than 10 years (33%) and usually in a senior management role or board role (in aggregate 53%). Research also showed that the typical fraudster was male and aged between 36 to 45.
Fewer companies now provide ethics training to employees
A triennial survey by the Institute of Business Ethics (IBE) on companies ethics programmes has found a 10% drop in the number of companies that provide training in ethics for staff since 2007. The survey found that in 2010 six out of ten companies provided training in ethics to their employees compared to seven out of ten in 2007. The survey also found that references to the corporate code of ethics are more likely t be made by continental European based companies – Spain (60%); Italy (60%); France (57%); Germany (50%) – than those in the UK (38%). Conversely results from the survey found that 83% of the responding companies screen there suppliers and business partners for ethical standards.
New report explores the business benefits of work experience
In June a report commissioned by Business in the Community and prepared by the City & Guilds Centre for Skills Development was published; Transforming Work Experience into Work Inspiration – the business benefits. The report shares good practice of work experience, shows how different employers have overcome the challenges of offering work experience and provides evidence of the business benefits of work experience. Research informing the report was carried out in three stages; a literature review, a survey of employees signed up to Work Inspiration and interviews were conducted. Four key impacts were identified; employee development and engement through supporting young people, encouraging diversity and talent, increasing business development and community engagement.
Housekeepers speak out about hotel dangers
On June 2nd housekeepers spoke out against abuses at work including harassment and unsafe working conditions in synchronised public events in eight cities across North America and called on contemporaries across the company to do the same. Workers are calling for increased security staff, working in teams and the provision of panic buttons.
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