Latest news with #EqualPay
Forbes
21-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Women In Sports: Why Nothing Has Changed About Women And Fair Wages
Randi Braun, CEO of Something Major, is the Wall Street Journal Bestselling author of Something Major: The New Playbook for Women at Work. Just days after the 62nd anniversary of the Equal Pay Act, news broke that the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders were receiving a 400% pay increase. What looked, on the surface, like a tremendous win for women and fair wages was just the latest reminder that more than 60 years after the Equal Pay Act became law, women are still forced to fight for the baseline. It's a cliché to say, 'The more things change, the more they stay the same.' But just three years ago, on the 59th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act, I wrote here in Forbes about a similar story, arguing that we were misinterpreting the U.S. women's soccer team's six-year battle for pay equity as an unequivocal win. As I noted at the time: 'Despite the bubblegum-and-girl-power headlines like the Washington Post's 'It took a revolution, but the U.S. women's soccer team got what it deserved,' the settlement reminds us how far we still have to go on pay equity—not how far we've come.' What struck me then—and still does now—is that after a six-year legal battle, the U.S. women's national soccer team finally secured equal pay, but something was missing, both in their compensation and the frenzied media coverage. Despite consistently outperforming the men's team in results, revenue and household popularity, the women weren't rewarded for overdelivering; they were simply brought up to the baseline—paid the same salary as a team of so-called 'peers' who were clearly underperforming them. How could we call that a 'historic raise'? It didn't feel right that an organization could spend six years fighting its star talent in court only to 'reward' them with a compensation package equal to colleagues with a fraction of their impact. But then again, this is women's sports, so let's take this out of sports for a moment. Imagine one sales team—let's call them the East Coast Territory Team—consistently hits revenue targets and tops client success metrics. Now imagine they're being paid less than the West Coast Territory Team, which is underperforming them across the board, and for six years, management insists that the East team shouldn't expect to earn more than, or even baseline as much as, their underperforming peers. Any reasonable person would say that makes no sense. That's why I was stunned at the time, when U.S. Soccer's president told the New York Times (registration required), 'It wasn't an easy process to get to this point for sure. The most important thing here is that we are moving forward, and we are moving forward together.' What is so hard about paying women what they're worth? It's a question I asked then and find myself asking again now—this time not from the courtroom or boardroom, but on the NFL sidelines (and while binge-watching Netflix on my couch). When I saw the headline (registration required) that the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders (also known as the DCC) were getting a 400% raise, I was excited—but also skeptical. After watching the Netflix series America's Sweethearts, I was struck by how exploitative some of the practices within the iconic DCC organization appeared to be. Cowboys chief brand officer Charlotte Jones even said, on camera (registration required), that part of their compensation package was a passion for dance. Last I checked, 'passion for dance' doesn't pay for rent, your Wi-Fi bill or the insanely expensive beauty regimen the dancers are expected to maintain. According to a prior court case (registration required), at one point DCC members 'received roughly $7 per hour with no overtime pay and a flat rate of $200 per game, which, in total, ended up being less than the annual pay for the team's mascot, Rowdy.' I'm thrilled these dancers are getting a 400% bump in their pay, but I'm also reminded that even when we make things "right" for women and their wages, they're still not always fair. Here are three lessons every woman should keep in mind when evaluating any compensation deal: 1. Know the difference between a raise and a right-sizing. We often call it a 'raise' (which is a reward for excellent performance) when it's really a 'right-sizing' (a correction to realign compensation to an employee's scope of responsibilities). Too often, when an organization makes an adjustment to women's compensation, like they did for the women of DCC or U.S. Soccer, they call it a raise. For both the DCC and the women of U.S. Soccer, this wasn't a merit-based increase. It was simply a right-sizing to get compensation to the most barely acceptable baseline. 2. The devil is in the details. One of the core lessons of this story is that women have to read the fine print. As the Cowboys Organization-sanctioned America's Sweethearts series revealed, the physical toll on the women of DCC is grueling. Season 1 documented current dancers with career-limiting injuries and alumni whose injuries had been life-changing. Yet, in this new deal, the women still don't get health insurance (registration required). 3. It's not about you—it's about the system. You are worth it. The fact that you're not always paid your value isn't about your talent or output. It's about systemic bias. Women, on the whole, still earn 82 cents on the dollar (a gap that widens for women of color) here in the United States. That is something we should note as a societal embarrassment, not a personal failure to negotiate our salaries. When President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act of 1963, he promised it would prevent 'arbitrary discrimination against women in the payment of wages.' I celebrate the women of DCC on their long-overdue right-sizing. But I also hope we'll view them as just the latest example of why we still have a long way to go before that promise becomes reality. Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?
BBC News
17-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Equal pay claim could cost Bradford Council millions, says union
Equal pay claims involving hundreds of council staff could end up costing a cash-strapped local authority "millions of pounds", a union has Union said staff at Bradford Council had been in touch about claims the authority was reportedly paying staff in mainly male departments more than staff in mainly female departments. The union accused the council of "burying their heads in the sand" and said if the complainants were successful, their pay claims could be backdated for up to six years. A Bradford Council spokesperson said it was in discussions with the union and staff. Lou Foster-Wilson, GMB Organiser, called the situation "shameful" and said that members were angry at being "short-changed". She also said hundreds of claims were "piling hundreds more to follow". "The longer it takes to settle these claims the bigger the bill Bradford Council will have to pick up," Ms Foster-Wilson added. The dispute relates to claims staff in female-dominated roles, such as teaching assistants, have historically been underpaid in relation to those in male-dominated positions. 'Right thing' According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, a council spokesperson said: "People are at the heart of what we do in Bradford, and our commitment to equality and inclusion is a big part of that. "We have well established procedures for discussing many matters with the trade unions and we continue in discussion with them to understand any issues their members may have."Ms Foster-Wilson added: "I urge the council to do the right thing by our members and its workforce and get round the negotiating table, so we can sort out a settlement for our members as soon as possible."In 2024 Birmingham City Council agreed to pay 6,000 of its workers a settlement after an unequal pay row. It was said to be one of the key factors in the authority declaring effective bankruptcy the year before when it said it was facing a bill of £760m to settle the claims. Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
NZ Herald
18-05-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Employment law changes are a setback for NZ workers
Minister of Workplace Relations Brooke van Velden has her sights set on reforming the Health and Safety at Work Act. Photo / Marty Melville THREE KEY FACTS So many employment rights regressions, so little time. To start, this month the Government rammed through the Equal Pay Amendment Bill under urgency, gutting a law that helped women challenge entrenched pay discrimination. The new Equal Pay law reverses 2020 changes that streamlined
RNZ News
15-05-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Pay equity issue will not go away
E tū union national secretary Rachel Mackintosh discusses the government's controversial Equal Pay Amendment Act that makes it harder for women-dominated workforces to achieve pay equity. Photo: Te Māngai Pāho Photo: NZ On Air Unions at the forefront of battling the government's decision to cancel 33 existing pay equity claims , and change the threshold for new claims, say the issue is not going away, and that in terms of a response "plans are developing". "We need to keep the momentum up on this issue because it's an outrage." Rachel Mackintosh from E tū Union told Mata with Mihingarangi they have had "massive support" and a "really wide response". It's coming from individuals such as a woman in her 80s protesting outside Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden's office who told Mackintosh: "I have not been on the streets for decades but this is making me incandescent with rage". But the battle was also getting support from industries dominated by men, Mackintosh said. "The miners have said if you need us down in Parliament with our high-vis jackets on to support the women who have suffered this insult, we are there." In a whirlwind 48 hours last week the law changed - without a select committee, any public meetings, opportunities for submissions or the usual processes law changes go through. Mackintosh said workers affected by the government's unexpected decision had reported "rage, disbelief, a deep feeling of insult, and of having something that felt as though it was within reach whipped away". "It's the difference between not being able to enrol your kids in sport, not being able to buy them a pair of shoes, choosing between paying your power bill and your rent." She agreed the process was a complex one, with "a whole lot of power and so on at play" but disagreed with the government's description of the legislation as "unfair, unaffordable and unworkable". "This government … recently wound up the Pay Equity Taskforce because they said it wasn't necessary because the system was working , that was just a few months ago, and now they say it's not working. "The attack on comparators is really an attack on the whole principle that work that is female-dominated is undervalued because of that reason." She said the system allowed claimants to compare the wages across industries and professions. "What you compare is the responsibility, the skill, the effort and the knowledge you need. "For care work one of the comparisons is prison guards, and so prison guards also deal with complex human interactions. They deal with violence as do care workers. They are responsible for people's safety as are care workers, and so it's these kinds of comparators … and that consideration of complex human interactions … skill and responsibility. It's not that the work is the same." The difference in pay between care workers and prison guards? Roughly 20 percent. "Actually what we concluded was that prison guards were also underpaid, because prison guards are paid less than fisheries officers." Mackintosh said that when it came to care workers "30 percent is the kind of average wrong pay that people are suffering at the moment, and that's after having got a boost in 2017 from the Kristine Bartlett case". Finance Minister Nicola Willis characterised the current regime as "a Trojan Horse for a multi-billion dollar grievance industry driven by public sector unions." Mackintosh said she found that description "so interesting". "What I immediately think of when I hear that is the 'Treaty Grievance Industry' - and the point about grievance is that it's about wrong and harm that has been done, and so to use that word as an insult is an insult. Because there is a grievance to have been undervalued … that people responsible for how much you get paid don't think it's important for you to have enough money to live on. If that's not a grievance I don't know what is."
RNZ News
14-05-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Lack of debate fans pay equity fury
Across the country, New Zealanders protested the rushed changes to the Equal Pay Amendment Act. The changes tighten up parameters for claims, introduce more restrictions, and give employers more ways to ignore them. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton Dumping 33 pay equity claims and telling underpaid workers to start again was always going to cause fury from those who stood to benefit from the claims - mostly women. But the government's shock and awe approach to changing the legislation has fanned the flames of anger. In a whirlwind 48 hours the law changed - no select committee, public meetings, opportunities for submissions or the usual processes laws go through. It is far from the first time a government has used urgency - but this was fast even by usual urgent standards. The Prime Minister has suggested the opposition, unions and the media have all been scaremongering on the issue. But there has been no time for debate on it, which Newsroom senior political reporter Marc Daalder said did not give people time to discuss its merits. "I don't think anyone was looking at this as an area for major reform, certainly not immediate reform," he said. "It's something that the government hadn't really spent very much time talking about. We know that the [workplace relationships] minister, Brooke van Velden, has been doing a lot of workplace reform and a lot of that has been forecast in the coalition agreements and in public statements that she's made. And she now says this pay equity issue is something that right when she got the job, at the very start in late 2023, she told the Prime Minister she was interested in working on it. "But it's not something the rest of us, or the public, had really known was on their radar." The changes to the Equal Pay Amendment Act made last week tighten up parameters for claims, introduce more restrictions and give employers more ways to ignore them. Van Velden said in her announcement that all ministers have been asked to save money, and that is what the move would do. They are substantial savings - billions - and Act leader David Seymour said van Velden had saved the Budget. National has played that aspect down, but it will get a lot of liability off the government books. That has paved the way for commentary that the savings have been made off the backs of women and made it harder for them to access economic justice. No one has lost any money - wages are not being slashed. But the fairness that many women were hoping for has just become that much further away. Daalder says Act and National MPs have now expressed concerns that many of the claims now cancelled were "basically bogus". "Nicola Willis called it [a Trojan horse for] a billion dollar grievance industry by the unions... that yes there are some situations where particular lines of work that are dominated by women have been systemically undervalued due to sexism and misogyny, as compared to types of work dominated by men that require similar skills, qualifications, and levels of work and so forth. "But that many of the claims that were currently being considered were not that. That they represented pay differentials for reasons other than sexism and misogyny. That's the heart of the argument from the government now ... the system was too loose, it was letting people make disingenuous comparisons between professions, and that there are professions that are paid less well not because they are dominated by women but for other reasons." Also on The Detail on Thursday, Helen Roberts, who is a professor of finance at the University of Otago, talks about the differences between equal pay, pay equity and the gender gap. She said we need to up our game on data gathering from employers so the situation is more transparent - and she uses the Australian example, the statutory body WGEA (Workplace Gender Equality Agency) as an example of what could be done here. Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here . You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter .
