The Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA) has named August 27 Equal Pay Day and is calling on employers to conduct a pay audit in their workplace.

With women earning just 84 cents in the male dollar, women effectively have to work longer to earn the same money as a man. To match the average wage a man earns in 12 months or the financial year working full time ordinary hours, a woman has to work an extra 54 days, or a total of 14 months to earn the same. August 27, 2008 marks the day when women’s average salary catches up to what men have banked by June 30 2008.

Anna McPhee Director of the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency said “There will be no ribbons, wrist bands or special clothing to promote Equal Pay Day on August 27.”

“Women already have less hourly pay, less weekly pay, less annual pay and less total superannuation savings, we wouldn’t want them to give up any more of their hard earned pay to support this day.”

Employers can support Equal Pay Day by initiating a pay audit in their workplace and respond where appropriate with transparent payment and promotion criteria, a meaningful work valuation assessment, review of overtime payments, provision of flexible work practices for all staff, removal of gender bias from performance reviews and where appropriate increases in pay for women.

Despite being granted equal pay for equal work more than 30 years ago in the 1972 Equal Pay Case, pay equity has not been achieved.

“Pay equity is not just about equal pay for equal work. The 15.6% gender wage gap reveals the systemic discrimination in the under-valuation of women’s work”, said Anna McPhee

The impact of pay inequity in our society is costly not only to women, but also to families, government and the community.

Women’s life time earnings are low, leaving many women in poverty after the significant contribution to society of raising children. Most families are forced to assume traditional roles of male bread winner and female carer, rather than equally sharing the load of both paid and unpaid work.

August 27 is the focus of an ongoing campaign for the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA) to educate the community about the causes and solutions of pay equity. This campaign includes working with over 7,000 Australian businesses each year on their workplace programs, research and resource development and an ongoing awareness campaign.

EOWA has also developed a tool to help business audit and analyse issues of pay which is available free from www.eowa.gov.au