Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting

Discuss about the Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting.

Introduction

Equal pay for equal work is a very sensitive discussion and it has been going on for years now. It prevails in a lot of countries where women are paid lesser than that of men, while they perform the same activities as that of men. Each country has its own law to govern this aspect, but despite multiple efforts, the employers don’t adhere to this completely. It is merely impossible for the government to track the records of all the organization and hence, they are discriminating employees on the grounds of sex, age and disability specifically. Equal pay for equal work was introduced because of number of female employees doing the same work as that of men, but they were paid less because of the gender. This problem was faced by people with disability and also people who were younger in age. Many of the organizational set up is still trying to implement this successfully and people from Hollywood and sports have also started to talk about this and hence, this has become an important topic which needs to be addressed without any ignorance.

About Equal pay act

This act states that if a men and women are performing similarly responsibilities in the similar environment then they should be paid equal. An employer should take into consideration the skills, responsibilities, effort, working conditions and job content to fix on the pay and accordingly, they should be paid. Each of the factors is explained below.

• Skill – An individual’s skill is measured by education, trainings acquired, ability and the education. The act states that if two individuals are performing the same job then they should be paid equal. If two employees are working as lab assistant. One holds a graduation degree in Chemistry and the other one holds a graduation degree in Chemistry and also a masters in bachelors of commerce then they both would be paid equal as the masters in bachelors of commerce will not add any value to the rule of the individual
• Effort – The physical and mental efforts put in by the individuals should be measured to decide on the pay offered. In warehouse management, there would be people who are responsible for moving the finished goods to transport vehicle. The employer will have to accept the fact that lifting the finished goods from one place to another would require extra efforts than that of all the others working in the warehouse and hence, they should be paid more than the others. This would be applicable, irrespective of the gender (Wharton  2015).
• Working conditions – working conditions would talk about the temperature of work area, hazardous gases that may be expelled, temperature and also the hazards. A person working in the factory should be paid more than that of someone who does the similar work in an office environment. If a worker is operating the machinery in a hot temperature then they need to be paid more irrespective of the gender (Watts 2015).
• Establishment – This equal pay act is applicable to employees who are working in the same organization and not in different establishments. Each organization would have a separate pay structure and the pay structure of different organizations cannot be compared, even if the roles and responsibilities handled by the employees is the same (Tschopp 2014).

The organization has all the rights to increase the pay of an individual, but there should be a pure justification for the same. The management can raise the pay based on his performance (improvement in the quality or quantity of production), experience and other positive attributes that may be adding value to the job that they do. In under any condition, sex shouldn’t be one of the criterions. If the organization has decided to rectify the pay gap between the two workers then they need to increase the pay of the worker who is paid less and not reduce the pay of the worker, who is paid more (Michalos 2014).

Intended  - Equal pay act in Iceland and the US

In Iceland, the laws are much strict and it is the responsibility of the employer to ensure that they offer equal pay to all the employees. Every organization with more than 25 employees needs to prove that they are offering equal pay for equal work to the employees. After an audit of the complete process, the government would certify the organization to operate. If the organization doesn’t prove that they are paying equal to all the employees, a fine of $500 per day would be levied on the employer (Markota 2015).

In the US, the situation is little different as the government haven’t taken any such serious steps to control the pay gap in the organizations. Apart from that, in the US, most of the people in the leadership and decision making team is men and hence, much importance is not given to equal pay act. The number of women in the leadership teams in the corporate and the one in political positions should increase so that the law can be implemented. Research indicates that women in the US are still paid 20% less than what their male counterparts are paid (Li 2013).

Women in the US have started speaking about the pay difference in the work environment. Students state that irrespective of the educational qualification, they are paid less than that of the men, who hold similar educational qualification. The major reason for this disparity is due to the unconscious basis that an interviewer holds and most of the times, the salary is fixed based on the previous pay they use to receive and not the industry standard (Thompson 2014).

In the US, The law states that an individual’s salary should be decided on the grounds of seniority, merit and productivity, but not sex. This law is very vague and hence, women cannot go ahead with legal proceedings as well. Even if they go for legal proceedings, the employer can easily prove that the men are paid higher because of their performance and not just gender. On the other end, Iceland believes that imposing high compliance penalty and continuous interference in the decisions of the board, the government can successfully implement the equal pay act (Sheehan 2015)

The law on pay equity is almost the same in all the countries, but Iceland has decided to take a stand and ensure that the law is implemented successfully. The US is not in the position to impose such penalties on the US organizations because of the less number of people in the corporate world and also political positions. External data and audits within the organization will allow the organization to understand where they stand in terms of pay equity (Nijssen 2015).

Unintended - Pay gap in Hollywood

Pay gap persists in all industries and Hollywood is not an exception. Talking about the pay that an actor or actress receives for the role is a taboo in this industry. Oscar winners Viola Davis, Mo’Nique and Octavia Spencer decided to talk about it in public. They also pointed out the low pay that they receive due to black skin, as compared to that actors and actresses with white skin.

After their comment on the pay that they receive, the researchers decided to dig the old reports and understand the truth behind the concern. This allowed the researchers to understand that the filmmakers are making huge money on subjects related to black and women, but then too they aren’t keen about sharing the profits with the actors and actresses (Monks 2014).

In one of the interviews, Viola Davis pointed out that the white women get 50 percent of white men get and the black women get 25 percent of what women gets and this is the real disappointing state of black women in Hollywood. She also pointed out that the white women put in efforts like that of white men and black women put in efforts like that of white women.

The black women in the industry are tying up with the white women to ensure that they get the price that they deserve. Spencer and Jessica Chastain was about to do a comedy show. While negotiating Spencer was not offered anything that she was expecting, but Jessica got 5 times of what was expected (Kane 2014).

A research was conducted to understand the reason behind the low pay received by black women. It states that while making decision, certain data is processed in the back of the mind and accordingly, an individual makes decision. This data is unknown to the decision maker and it is just stuck in the mind and hence, they end up making decisions which may not be justified by others. The research also states that the earning of a Hollywood actress increases till the age of 34; while in case of actors, it increases till the age of 51. The research also states that there weren’t enough black actors to do a broad study and hence, the study was conducted with limited number of participants (Fodor 2013).

Unintended - Pay gap in sports

Pay gap in sports is also among sports players. 2017’s research report states that there is a pay gap of 38% between the men and women players. This comparison was done on the hourly pay that men and women players receive. The research states that men are paid higher as they are huge in number as compared to that of women players. ECB justifies this action of theirs by way of stating that the higher positions are held by men and hence, this pay disparity is seen.

The board is trying to ensure that the pay gaps between men and women players are reduced by way of creating an environment that allows women to be successful and also shape the career in a way that they deserve. The women players will also be provided appropriate support so that they can concentrate more on the sport. They would also be training them to sharpen their skills so that they management is motivated to pay them equivalent to that of men players, with similar experience and quality (Chow 2015).

There are various reasons which an employer would give to pay less to the women employee. These reasons were valid at one point of time, but they aren’t valid anymore. Few of the reasons due to which women employees are paid less are discussed below.

Employers believe men work harder than that of women. Women have more personal commitments as well and hence, they take leaves and more concerned about leaving office on time. Men also pick on unpaid work to complete at home. The situation is not the same anymore as women have help at home to ensure that they can concentrate more on official responsibilities (Buren 2015).

Employers are sceptical about hiring females who are around the age of 30. The employers believe that they would leave the job soon as they may not be able to strike a balance between your personal and professional life. Apart from that, few may also leave the job while they are planning to have babies. To understand this reason better, a survey was conducted among women who leave their job around the age of 30. The results were such that around 65 percent women leave their job because they have found a new opportunity, which pays them more than what they were paid by their previous employer (Brencic 2014).

 Employers also believe that men are more educated and qualified than that of the females. On the grounds of education, the men employees are paid more. This has been proven wrong by various research studies. Looking at the statistics of graduation and post graduation admissions in colleges around the world, it shows that the number of female students is more than that of male students.

More importantly, females are responsible to some extent for the low pay that they receive. They believe that the minimum difference in pay will really not create much difference, but this attitude needs to be changed so that the employers are forced to follow pay equity law (Arzensek 2015).

Conclusion

Pay equity is one problem which is noticed by women from different corners of the world. Women should wake up and speak for what they feel rather than succumbing to whatever is being offered by the employer. Pay equity law is ignored even in developed countries like the US. The affected people should raise their voice so that the law is able to understand the intensity of the issue. Iceland is one country which is trying to set example for the other countries. The pay gap has reduced to a great extent, but it needs to be further worked upon to ensure that it is eradicated completely. Pay equity needs to be taken seriously by the government so that all the organizations can implement it. Hollywood actresses and sportswomen have a platform where they can raise their concern but that might not be the case with female employees in the organization setup. Government intervention is the only way to implement pay equity successfully.

References

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Brencic, S (2014). Managing in a time of crisis: marketing, HRM and innovation. Journal of business and industrial marketing. pp. 436-446

Buren, S  (2015). Ethics and HRM education. Journal of academic ethics. pp. 1-15

Chow, M (2015). HRM systems and firm performance: The mediation role of strategic orientation. Asia Pacific Journal of management. pp. 53-72

Fodor, K (2013). The Impact of the Economic and Financial Crisis on HRM and Knowledge-Management in Hungary and Slovakia - Empirical Research 2008-2009. Acta polytechnica Hungarica. pp. 69-91 

Kane, S (2014). Barriers to effective HRM. International journal of manpower. pp. 494-516

Li, Y (2013). Towards the theory of social responsibility reporting. Chinese Management Studies. 7(4). Pp. 519-534

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Monks. (2014). HRM in international firms: Evidence from Ireland. Personnel Review. pp. 536-553

Nijssen, F (2015). HRM in turbulent times: how to achieve organizational agility? The international journal of human resource management. pp. 3315-3335

Sheehan, O (2015). Global human resource management and economic change: a multiple level of analysis research agenda. The international journal of human resource management. pp. 2393-2403

Thompson, S (2014). The trouble in HRM. Human resource management journal. pp. 355-367      

Tschopp, D (2014). The harmonization and convergence of corporate social responsibility reporting standards. Journal of business ethics. 125(1). Pp. 147-162

Watts, S (2015). Corporate social responsibility reporting platforms: enabling transparency for accountability. Information technology and management. 16(1). Pp. 19-35

Wharton, T (2015). Rigor, Transparency, and reporting social science research: Why guidelines don’t have to kill your story. Research in social work practice. Pp. 152-159.