Penalty rates cut could worsen gender pay gap, says Australia Institute
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Version 0 of 1. A cut to penalty rates could exacerbate the gender pay gap with a new analysis showing women earn 33% less than men when their rates of part-time work are taken into account. The left-leaning Australia Institute and Centre for Future Work has released data showing the traditional measure of the gender pay gap (which has women earning 17% less than men) for ordinary pay, equivalent full-time positions is blown out when the concentration of women in part-time work is taken into account. The data also shows women account for 55% of all employment in the retail sector and 53% in food and beverage services. The two sectors are the largest employers of women in the private-sector economy. In food and beverages 70% of women work part-time compared with 52% of men. In retail 60% of the women employed work part-time compared with 35% of men. When the disproportionate number of women working part-time is taken into account, the gender pay gap increases from 17% to 33% in Australia. Economist and the director of the Centre for Future Work, Jim Stanford, said it was impossible to separate the impact of the pure gender pay gap from the impact of women’s concentration in part-time work. “Both factors undermine women’s earnings and the penalty rate cut will have a further negative effect on that,” he said. Last month the Fair Work Commission announced a decision to cut Sunday penalty rates across the hospitality, retail and pharmacy industries with some exceptions. In hospitality penalty rates will fall from 175% to 150% on Sunday and in retail it will fall from 200% to 150% for full and part-time employees and 175% for casuals. United Voice and the SDA made submissions that a cut to penalty rates would disproportionally affect women but the Fair Work Commission rejected the proposition. The FWC decision said that to show women were disproportionately affected “it would have to be shown that more female hospitality workers usually work on Sundays than males”. There was “no data” that showed the number of hospitality workers who usually work on Sundays, by gender, it said. “Further, the available data does not appear to support the proposition advanced.” The FWC said that in data drawn from the ABS Working Time Arrangements series it shows that across surveys conducted in 2006, 2009 and 2012 the proportion of male employees who usually work on Sundays was greater than the proportion of female employees who usually work on Sundays. “But this is ‘all industries’ data,” the decision said. “It is not confined to the retail industry.” The minister for women, Michaelia Cash, rebuked Bill Shorten on Wednesday for arguing the cuts to penalty rates would disproportionately affect women, saying his claims were not backed by data. The Unions NSW assistant secretary, Emma Maiden, said the new analysis was clear and the Turnbull government was failing women. “Cuts to penalty rates for retail and hospitality workers will impose a higher burden on women workers,” she said. “These women can least afford it and certainly don’t deserve it. “The Turnbull government should show their support for working women and their commitment to equality by agreeing to overturn this pay cut.” The latest Guardian Essential Poll showed 56% of respondents disapproved of the penalty rates cut and 57% of the survey said they believed the most likely result of the change will be bigger profits for business, not more jobs in retail and hospitality. Only 24% of people think the cut will result in business employing more workers, which was a key part of the reasoning behind the FWC’s decision. |