ALL ON BOARD FOR EQUALITY
A RECORD 120 organisations have been named Employers of Choice for Gender Equality, providing further evidence of the trend toward sociallya ware workplaces.
The citation from the Federal Government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) aims to recognise and promote active commitment to achieving gender equality.
In 2017-18, it acknowledged organisations from banks and universities to property developers and business consultancies, with the list growing from 106 in 2016, 90 the year before and 76 the year before that.
While the continual growth can be partially attributed to increasing applications, WGEA director Libby Lyons says employers are also moving in the right direction.
Between 2014 and 2017, the gender pay gap – the difference in total full-time remuneration for male and female employees – reduced from 24.7 per cent to 22.4 per cent.
For managers, it decreased from 29.8 per cent to 27.2 per cent. For non-managers, it dropped from 21.6 per cent to 19.7 per cent.
“WGEA data shows there is continuing momentum and progress towards gender equality in Australian workplaces,” Lyons says.
“However, it also highlights the accountability gap between having a policy or strategy in place and being held accountable for delivering results.”
New research from Accenture finds women are more than twice as likely to be on the career fast track in organisations where leaders are held accountable for gender diversity (75 per cent compared to 36 per cent).
The latest EOCGE (Employer of Choice for Gender Equality) list includes 21 organisations that have not been acknowledged before, including GM Holden, Johnson & Johnson, Palace Cinemas, Scentre Group and Unilever.
BP Australia also returned for the first time since EOCGE was introduced in 2014.
“It is encouraging to see some new citation holders this year in fields as diverse as engineering, manufacturing, insurance, IT and entertainment,” Lyons says.
Criteria for the EOCGE citation are strengthened each year. In 2017-18 they covered leadership, learning and development, gender remuneration gaps, flexible working and other initiatives to support family responsibilities, employee consultation and preventing sex-based harassment and discrimination.