Women and Work Commission Report Requested by Prime Minister Tony Blair Offers a Wide Range of Excellent Solutions but is it Enough? - Commentary by easybooks.741.com

Women can take effective action by openly speaking out against unfair employment practices, becoming more entrepreneurial and in the extreme refusing to be a part of businesses that support pay and opportunity gaps.

(PRWEB) April 3, 2006 -- The Women and Work Commission released their report in February 2006 to address the issue of the gender pay and opportunities gap, notably a difficult task as so many parties represented by government have a competing stake in the topic.

Based on their research, women appear to be paid less than men for equal work performed in business. Women have a longer life expectancy on average than men and coupled with time taken out of work to raise children, insufficient pension and poverty amongst aged women is a growing problem.

The unexplored question that remains is what possible motivation employers may have to pay women less than men. Surely unfair employment practices lead to high staff turnover and problems with motivation at work, expensive consequences for any business. Is it typically men who cause the pay and opportunities gap due to their management and recruitment decisions or are women in senior positions equally responsible for stereotyping women in business? Power is the key in the board room, therefore it is possible that handing over power to talented women more accustomed to subservient roles could be perceived as dangerous business strategy.

The report calls for action from Government, employers, trade unions and educationalists, but neglects to emphasise that the most effective action can come from women themselves.

Surely the pay gap would not be such a pervasive problem if more women were employers or business owners and could effectively block decisions from management that put women in a compromised position. Can government not assist this process by encouraging women to become self-employed entrepreneurs via start up grants and by providing incentives for businesses to recruit equal numbers of men and women in board rooms with tax incentive schemes for government approved equality programmes instated by employers?

www.easybooks.741.com recognises that starting in business can be overwhelming for any person not accustomed to accounts and tax law and the risk of liability to customers. The government has come a long way to make business start up easier by increasing audit limits and introducing simplified accounts for small businesses, but the tax rules for small business owners are still complicated for ordinary men and women. Outsourcing opportunities available can be too expensive and cheaper services are often unregulated. A real boost for business start up would be simplified tax rules for small businesses, perhaps introducing a more complex system once businesses are more established.

Childcare is a major problem for women who want to balance a career and family. The UK government provides excellent facilities for maternity leave up to one year after the birth of a child, and schooling from the age of three. However, most women find it difficult to find affordable, convenient care for children between the ages of one and three, most notably where the pay gap can legitimately creep in due to a loss of experience if time is taken out from work. In central London, prices for nursery places are up to £1,500 per month in the current market. A woman earning £30,000 would have to give up three quarters of her salary to afford child care near enough to her place of work so that she can be within reach of the child should she be needed. This an essential aspect of childcare since commuters travel up to two hours a day to reach Central London and is often the reason why women decide to leave the labour market.

There are still no effective trade Unions for traditional professions such as accountancy and law, where the pay and opportunities gap is acute. A woman who finds herself in a position where she is being paid tens of thousands of pounds less than male colleagues for doing the same work has nowhere to turn except an employment tribunal, which is often a time consuming, humiliating and public affair. Any woman taking this route is in danger of being completely alienated from the local business community for companies' fear of being publicly prosecuted.

Bonus schemes and incentive related pay is often not implemented at all, or judged at the ‘discretion of management’ leading to unfair decisions. Even where a woman is involved in decisions about opportunities and pay at senior level, if she is the only woman in the boardroom her input may be overpowered, or she may have an incentive to go along with unfair decisions to find favour with the board. Government can have a significant impact by introducing tax incentive schemes for equal pay and approved incentive related pay schemes similar to approved share options schemes. An advisory service for women in unfair situations is also needed.

Women can effectively serve the community by working from home. Travel and childcare hinders the amount and quality of effort a working mother can offer to a business due to constraints on her time. Most office workers are not under constant scrutiny from clients or management and can just as effectively work from home, being measured on deadlines met and revenue earned for the business. Technology such as email and internet is advanced enough to provide a real option for women in business to work from home, but employers seem reluctant to take the bait. Flexibility is seriously lacking in established employment practices in the UK and leads to untold pressure on the whole family unit, where families live completely separate individual lives and children over the age of eleven are often left unsupervised after school. Such arrangements may also benefit the public transport system by alleviating rush hour volumes.

The right to request flexible working hours is ineffective in senior positions where the pay gap is most acute if women are unable to find suitable childcare. If management can refuse to give women the opportunity to try flexible working hours stating their reason as the nature of the job that requires a full time commitment, it can give management leverage to push women out of employment completely as the likelihood of finding another job under the circumstances may be slim.

The most worrying aspect of education is the exam structure of accrediting professional qualifications. The most important exam papers used to judge suitability of candidates for professional qualifications are not open to inspection by students or training firms. This leaves both candidates and employers with little power to address problems relating to student performance, especially amongst women. An important part of promoting professional qualifications is to keep statistics at a level that helps the qualification to appear sufficiently difficult. This method of promotion can lead to innocent victims failing to complete qualifications regardless of their contribution to local business. The way questions are set and answers evaluated in professional exams such as accountancy qualifications can be subjective and lean towards a more analytical approach traditionally adopted by men, where women who may have amore holistic, descriptive style to answering scenario questions may be penalised for lack of ‘professionalism’.

In conclusion, women can take effective action by openly speaking out against unfair employment practices, becoming more entrepreneurial and in the extreme refusing to be a part of businesses that support schemes of pay and opportunity gaps. It is time for women to take action.

This commentry is provided by the Women in Business campaign launched by www.easybooks.741.com Please donate to Cancer Research Race for Life at http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/easybooks741

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