“When considering job offers, see how the workplace compare on the availability of paid parental leave, gender balance in leadership, or if the company takes action on gender equality through regular pay audits,” said WGEA.
A new study from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) has said that less than 50 per cent of women are working full-time, leading them to miss out on key management roles in Australia.
They mentioned the reason why women are earning less is because more than 90 per cent of higher paying management roles require full-time work.
But event then, data, which was broken down by age group for the first time, showed that two-thirds of women who were over 55 and in management positions were in lower tiered ranks.
This is counterintuitive to men aged 55 or older who were two times more likely to be in a management role. It was found women over 55 in CEO roles earned $95,000 less then their male counterparts.
The age group of 55-64-year-old women were paid 31.9 per cent less than men, equivalent to $40,000 a year.
WGEA says that more women tend to take on part-time or casual roles after they turn 35 whether through choice or necessity but that more needs to be done by employers to give better support.
“Too many employers are missing a huge talent pool by not encouraging and enabling women to work additional hours or in the managerial ranks,” said WGEA Director, Mary Wooldridge.
“With effective policies, workplaces can both enable women to work full-time if they chose to and make higher-paid managerial roles more accessible for those who work part-time.”
Further research with McKinsey and the Business Council of Australia revealed that more females are in part-time management positions at an executive level, with WGEA calling for there to be flexibility within the workplace to ensure women can dedicate time to both home and work.
However, the statistics weren’t all bad.
“Millennial women are reaching management positions at equal rates as men,” said Ms Wooldridge.
It was found that women reached their peak earnings between the age of 35-44 while the gender pay gap was at its lowest for people under 25.
Several recommendations for employers were put forward by the WGEA which include flexible working times, equal KPIs as well as assistance for childcare.
