Women are paid less than men for the same work in every economy across the globe including in Hong Kong. As an international financial hub, it is time that we take greater action to ensure pay equity.

Equal pay is about getting the same compensation for similar or comparable work. This means two people performing the same job should expect to earn the same amount. It is distinct from the gender pay gap, which reflects the difference between all men’s and women’s average earnings. The gender pay gap indicates that women’s capacity to earn is often reduced due to legal, economic or social issues like gender norms and discrimination. Both reflect society’s entrenched bias that women’s formal economic contributions are valued less than men. Both are vital to tackle but require different approaches. So as not to conflate the two issues, we specifically want to turn our focus to equal pay.

Why should the issue of pay equity be a focus for employers? It creates greater access to diverse talent and leads to increased growth and innovation – all benefits employers need under current uncertain economic conditions and talent shortages. A survey by Indeed noted that 81% of workers said that they are more productive when they are paid fairly, and 72% of women in another survey noted that they would not work at an organisation with a known pay equity gap.

Hong Kong is no exception when it comes to paying women less. Often this is determined even before a woman enters into a new workplace. Offers at successive companies are calculated largely based off of what that candidate is currently earning, placing women at a disadvantage, and this simply compounds over time and there is no legal redress when employees find themselves at the losing end of this equation.

One way to address pay inequity is through legislation. Whilst Hong Kong’s Sex Discrimination Ordinances does include unequal pay based on gender discrimination, there is no legislation that explicitly provides for equal pay in the workplace. Having equal pay legislation can shift responsibility from employees seeking legal reparation due to gender-based discrimination in pay to the employer, and could be strengthened by an independent certification (for organisations over a certain number of employees) as paying equally for work of equal value.

Elsewhere around the globe, we are seeing greater awareness and action on this issue. In Japan, regulations around equal pay for equal work requires companies to share data on pay and cannot discriminate on pay between full and part time roles, the latter being disproportionately taken up by women. New rules on pay transparency across the EU aim to strengthen equal pay through disclosure and compensation in member states, with similar initiatives in Brazil and Canada. Enacting similar equal pay legislation in Hong Kong would signal the importance of this issue and would encourage employers to take more proactive steps to tackle equal pay.

Equal pay is only one part of a suite of changes needed to tackle the chronic underrepresentation of women in senior management and leadership positions. This is why TWF employs a holistic approach to increasing gender diversity at all levels of an organisation through our suite of Pipeline Initiatives and advocacy, to address issues such as disproportionate caregiving responsibilities, lack of visibility, gender specific health issues, gender sensitive retention and promotion strategies, and enabling employees to combat gender biases. Like all elements necessary to achieve gender equality, working towards equal pay is an ongoing process that requires all of us to be vigilant and committed to making it possible, ensuring a truly inclusive workplace for all.

Here are some actions employers can take now to create the conditions for equal pay:

• Initiate a pay equality audit where the pay of employees doing “like for like” work are compared and any pay differences that cannot be justified are investigated
• Encourage transparency around compensation and benefits for each pay grade
• Monitor and refine hiring, promotion, and compensation processes on an ongoing basis

Get in touch at Fiona.Nott@twfhk.org.