equal pay day « Henkel Diversity Blog

Posts Tagged ‘equal pay day’

Women in Business

Today it’s Equal Pay Day in Germany / Heute ist Equal Pay Day in Deutschland

Friday, March 25th, 2011 by Astrid Bosten

These days women are skilled just as well as men are – and even better. However, women earn an average of a lower level than men do – even by having the same profession and qualification. In recent years the Gender Pay Gap in Germany was constantly at 23 percent which means that the average gross income per hour for women was 23 % lower than the gross income of men.

In order to hint at this income disparity in Germany the Business and Professional Women Germany e. V. (BPW) initiated the first Equal Pay Day in 2008.

Today it’s Equal Pay Day in Germany – on March 25, 2011.

This day of action takes place annually and marks the income disparity between the genders in Germany as the time period that women had to work more – exceeding the turn of the year – to reach the men’s salary of the preceding year.

However, isn’t that actually a comparison between apples and oranges? Research shows that about two thirds of the Gender Pay Gap can be referred to structurally different features of men and women which are relevant to the employment. The most important differences are those between the unequal filling of positions of male and female employees as well as the unequal choice of profession. Furthermore the high amount of female part-time employees must be taken into account.

In order to clarify the question why there is an income disparity in Germany and what is about to change frauTV, a German TV show, discussed this topic yesterday night March 24, 2011 at 10 p.m. at WDR television. [DE]

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Women in Business

100th International Women’s Day – a press review/ 100. Weltfrauentag – ein Pressespiegel

Tuesday, March 8th, 2011 by Astrid Bosten

Today we are celebrating the 100th International Women’s Day. Launched for the first time by the German socialist Clara Zetkin in 1911 to promote women’s suffrage, today the International Women’s Day has become a holiday celebrated worldwide. However, the focus on this day is different, as our review shows:

The New York Times analyzes shopping lists of women, what might be interesting to understand female customers. Beyond that it offers an interesting article about female careers in Medical Care.
The Daily Telegraph in Sidney published an article about female role models as well as an article about a short movie in which James Bond Actor Daniel Craig in a dress and with makeup is challenged by Judy Drench (better known as ‘M’) to raise awareness for gender inequality. The movie can be watched here on youtube.
BCC reports about a study that compared today’s mothers with mothers back in the 1970’s and 1980’s. The interviewed women were sure: in the past it was far easier to raise children!
The San Francisco Chronicle seems have a more business-oriented point of view: they write about women as one of the world’s most important growth markets.

As all these articles show, women even today have to fight for gender equality – 100 years after the first Women’s Day the conclusion is: “A lot of attention but still unheard…” [DE]

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International Ambassadors

Report on equality between women and men 2010 / Bericht über die Gleichheit zwischen Männern und Frauen 2010

Friday, March 26th, 2010 by Astrid Bosten

Each year, the European Commission reports to the European Council on developments towards gender equality and challenges that emerged. This year’s report points out that there is a generally positive trend towards a gender-equal society.

However, differences in employment, pay, working-hours and management positions persist. As future challenges, the report identifies a synergy between gender equality and employment, the reconciliation between work and family, the promotion of social inclusion and gender equality as well as preventing gender-based violence. As a conclusion, the commission calls to the European Council and to all EU-Nations to respond to these challenge ans transform commitment into action and results. [DE]

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Best Practices, Diversity & Inclusion, International Ambassadors, Women in Business

Today it’s Equal Pay Day in Germany/ Heute ist Equal Pay Day in Deutschland

Friday, March 26th, 2010 by Astrid Bosten

This year Germany “celebrates” it’s Equal Pay Day on March 26. The gender pay gap stayed constantly by 23 percent. Each year the European Commission reports to the European Council on developments towards gender equality and challenges that emerged.

Henkel’s attitude towards gender equality payment is clear: The HR department ensures an equitable and non-discriminating payment for equal work. Additionally female employees are best supported to return from parental leave as fast as desired. [DE]

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Best Practices

Salary report by the magazine Wirtschaftswoche and Personalmarkt Services / Gehaltstest der Wirtschaftswoche und der Vergütungsberatung Personalmarkt

Thursday, March 25th, 2010 by Astrid Bosten

The magazine Wirtschaftswoche and Personalmarkt Services compared the salaries of 470 careers and positions. The results are mainly negative. The salaries of top-managers increase while those of university graduates constantly decrease. The gap between women and men still exists and the net income of German employees decreased in 2009. Positive news is, that the old principle “who stays the longest at the company earns the most” no longer exists. Performance is the determining factor for a rise in salary and specialists can expect pay raises up to 5 percent. [DE]

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International Ambassadors

The income gender gap/Der Gehaltsunterschied zwischen Männern und Frauen

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 by Astrid Bosten

On the occasion of the International Women’s Day on March 8, the Federal Statistic Office released data on the income gender gap. According to the numbers, women in Germany earn 23.3 percent less than man. In Italy, the difference amounts only to 4.9 percent. These numbers could easily be misinterpreted. The released data include only working people and compare very different job types with each other. For these reasons, the released data give an overview, but no indication for the equality between men and women. [DE]

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