Raising the bar for gender pay equality

Group CEO of Australia’s largest life insurer Jim Minto today issued a challenge to corporate Australia in his new honorary role of Pay Equity Ambassador for the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA).

“TAL committed nearly two years ago to close the gender pay gap and we have achieved that. The fact is it can be fixed; it just requires measurement, planning, commitment and a disciplined program of implementation. I challenge the Australian business community to do this now as a business priority,” he said.

WGEA figures released today show that nearly 74% of employers have never done a gender gap analysis.

TAL’s ratio of female to male pay rose from 82% to 98.5% following direct action over two years to redress pay inequality. This involved assessing all roles and a program involving new pay, recruitment and remuneration training, policies and guidelines along with an ongoing awareness campaign as well as developing a strong culture of diversity and inclusion right throughout the organisation.

“So my challenge is that there is no basis for gender pay inequality and that pay equity is achievable and straight forward. Every employer can fix this now. It just needs the urgent attention it deserves to ensure we get rid of, once and for all, this blight on our modern society,” Mr Minto said.

“We spend a lot of time talking about numbers of women in senior roles whereas we ignore the key issue of pay equity which apart from being right and fair for all women is one of the key building blocks to us having more women in senior roles.”

Other key activities in TAL’s broader gender equality program include:

• Flexible work arrangements
• Maternity (and paternity) support
• Hiring both genders on equal pay for the same roles
• Management training on gender equity
• Gender equity targets in Executive KPIs and performance plans
• Monitoring, measuring and reporting the results.

Mr Minto said survey results revealed that flexibility was something that employees of both genders wanted for different reasons across their lifespan and was something that especially had great resonance for working mothers.

We also found that by encouraging more men to take up flexible work we were helping to dismantle the gender-based stigmas that previously bogged down flexibility discussions,” he said.

In 2012, 25% of diversity and inclusion survey respondents had considered leaving TAL due to work/life conflict. This has now reduced to 13%. There has been a 58% increase in the number of employees working flexibly from 31 to 49% over two years. TAL’s employee engagement survey listed diversity as the number one reason for staff wanting to stay with TAL as an employer.

We strongly believe our gender equity and diversity and inclusion efforts will be reflected in the quality of service we’re able to deliver our customers and in our long-term sustainability as Australia’s largest life insurer.

TAL has been vocal this year in advocating for pay equity – see link

Further information:

Stuart Snell 02 9448 9879/0417 921 235 stuart.snell@tal.com.au 

About TAL: The specialist voice of life insurance in Australia

TAL is Australia’s largest life insurance company with leading competitive offerings in each of its core distribution channels: direct to customers; through financial advisers; and via group and workplace superannuation schemes. With in-force premiums of $2.2 billion, TAL provides more life insurance solutions to Australians than any other insurer. TAL is owned by The Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company, Limited, one of Japan’s largest life insurers.