Equal pay for equal work”, also known as the “gender pay gap”, is an issue that is usually addressed by policy at the national or local level. However, this should be one of the most important issues for companies seeking to have effective corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs that are reflected in higher employee retention and satisfaction rates.
The available figures on the wage gap in Colombia appear to be good, but there is certainly room for improvement. According to the OECD, between 2016 and 2018 the gender pay gap was 13.2% on average of all OECD member countries, while in Colombia it was 5.8%. But the figures found vary. According to the DANE, in 2017 it corresponded to 17%, while the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in the Sustainable Development Goals assures that by 2019 it corresponds to 20%, and in rural environments it corresponds to 40%.
According to the latest information available on the website of the International Labor Organization (ILO), in 2016 the Colombian government sent statistical information that demonstrates “the persistence of a marked occupational segregation (women are concentrated in services and commerce), and the number of employed persons by educational level and by sector that show that the lower the education of women, the lower their insertion in the labor market.
However, one of the biggest mistakes is to think that the government has to fix everything and that we citizens cannot assume this type of responsibility. This is what CSR is for, as a model of business self-regulation that helps companies be responsible for the impact they have on economic, social and environmental aspects.
One aspect of CSR is the impact that companies have on their employees. This includes policies that ensure the well-being, happiness and productivity of employees and helps reduce turnover levels. It also includes issues of gender equity and, especially, equal pay for employees doing equal work.
While the ILO indicated that the government needed to take measures to increase women’s participation in the market, companies have the power to make strategic changes in their organizations and to focus their CSR projects on closing the wage gap. First of all, it is advisable to guarantee company policies that ensure the effective payment of equal wages for equal work. And, secondly, companies can implement programs that help women obtain new skills and actively participate in other sectors normally dominated by men (i.e. science, technology, engineering and mathematics).
For Ángela María Jurado Echeverri, Coordinator of the Semilleros de Gómez-Pinzón Abogados Plan.