Women’s pay: Your male colleague probably earns more than you

Nancy* was excited when she joined a reputable healthcare company, early this year, working in the sales and marketing department. She, however, felt short-changed when she learned that the male colleagues with whom she had been recruited, earned twice what she made in a month.

“Two months into the job, I asked my workmate (male) about how he found the interview process. I learned that he earned more than me, though we did the same work, because he was given a higher budget for the role, during negotiations,’’ she tells nation.africa.

Looking back at her recruitment process, Nancy says she was not presented with a job offer whose remuneration matched what they had agreed on during negotiation.

“My employment letter quoted a salary that was Sh40,000 less than what we had agreed on. When I enquired about the discrepancy, I was informed that my salary would be increased after probation. I did not know my male colleagues were already earning higher salaries than I was,’’ she adds.

Nancy also says only two women in the group of eight people had been hired during that recruitment cycle.

Similar qualification

“Even in the department that I currently work in, there are very few women. One of the women, who recently resigned, told me she did so because she discovered that she was the lowest paid employee despite having similar qualifications as her counterparts,’’ she reveals.

Nancy explains that there is also a general sense of unease amongst the women regarding starting a family because most of their roles are very demanding.

“They (the company she works for) rarely hire married women because it is assumed that you would have divided attention because of your roles as wife and mother. One of my female colleagues was in a field role before going for maternity leave; when she resumed, she was moved to a customer care desk role. Her new role is less flexible compared to her original role,’’ she says.

Nancy’s situation is reflected in the findings of a new UN Women report, Why Women Earn Less, Gender Pay Gap and Labour Market Inequalities in East and Southern Africa,' that was released last Friday.

The study found that women in East and Southern Africa only earn 81 cents for every dollar men earn on an hourly basis. This translates to 72 cents for every dollar men earn each month. The average gender pay gap for the region is estimated to be about 19 per cent.

First of its kind

The figures were arrived at after the international organisation collected and analysed data from 10 countries; Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and South Africa, making it the first of its kind in the region.

Based on the findings, nation.africa used a gender pay gap calculator developed by Code for Africa, to calculate how much women would earn if they were men.

The study also established that women with tertiary-level education face a smaller gender pay gap compared to women with primary-level education. In that case, highly educated women earn 18 per cent less than men with the same level of education, whereas women with primary-level education earn 31 per cent less than men with the same level of education.

In an earlier interview with nation.africa, Regina Nyambura Njoki, a working mother, said her diploma level of education hindered her from accessing higher paying job groups that undergraduate and postgraduate degree holders (mostly men) got.

Likewise, the gender pay gaps of the top 10 per cent earners are generally larger than the average gender pay gaps. This means in the highest-paid positions such as C-suite positions, women are more disadvantaged in terms of pay than the average woman.

Another startling finding of the report is that married women are less likely to be employed than single women.

“This suggests that marriage comes with substantial care responsibilities and/or reinforces traditional gender roles. Overall, this suggests that marriage interferes with the labour-market decisions of women more than the presence of children does. Marriage leads to deepening of gendered division of work, which leads to lower economic participation of women,’’ reads part of the report.

Read also: Burden of unpaid care work heavy on women, says study

Overall, single adult women who are educated up to tertiary level or higher, are in the most favourable position in the labour market. The research found that such women have even achieved pay parity with men in some of the sampled countries.

UN women, while explaining the findings, provided an array of reasons why women earn less.

“The difference arises because women spend fewer hours in paid work every week. They spend 42 hours per week in paid jobs, while men spend 47 hours per week in paid work…Women’s disproportionate unpaid care work responsibilities, compared with men, limit the time they can spend on paid jobs,’’ reads part of the report.

Nancy tells nation.africa that she might consider seeking employment elsewhere, where she will have flexible working hours so that she can start a family and take care of her children comfortably.

Educational level also has a significant explanatory power over pay and, hence, over the gender pay gap.

Poverty levels

“For instance, gender stereotypes still direct women into traditional, lower-pay careers, irrespective of whether women can perform well in jobs dominated by men. Teachers and families (also) discourage women and girls early in their life from entering the fields of technology, science and mathematics and, instead, suggest that they choose a field that is “easier” or “female”, like paid domestic work and nursing,’’ reads the report.

UN Women reiterates that gender pay gap is responsible for higher poverty levels among women, which trickles down to poorer health and nutrition for households as women are in charge of those tasks.

In case you learn that your male colleague earns more than you for similar work and similar qualifications, Joseph Kihara an employment and labour relations lawyer, suggests that you first use internal dispute resolution mechanisms such as engaging the human resource department to address the issue.

“Gender should not be used as a basis to determine pay, if it does, you can approach industry unions to resolve the conflict or report the matter to the labour office. However, if you decide to take legal action, you would have to resign in order to institute a suit against your employer for unequal pay,’’ Mr Kihara advises.

He references The Employment Act (2007), Section 5 (5) and (7) to reiterate that all employers should offer employees equal remuneration for work of equal value. Additionally, in a case where the provision is violated, the employer will be required to prove that the discrimination did not take place.

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