The average compensation differential between working men and women is known as the Gender Pay Gap. In general, women are paid less than men. The pay gap has two different measurements: a non-adjusted pay gap and an adjusted pay gap. The varying opinions on whether it is real or fabricated, but that is another discussion. The pay gap is usually represented as a percentage or in monetary terms. This ratio is determined by dividing women’s wages by men’s wages. This reveals how much is paid to a woman for every dollar made available to a man. Sometimes the disparity in pay between men and women is expressed in terms of how much fewer women earn than males. If the gender pay ratio is roughly 80% (or 80% of a dollar), then women are paid 20% less (or 20% of a dollar) than men. A lower ratio but a wider gap in their incomes results from a larger disparity between men’s and women’s earnings.  

In 2021, the UAE has made tremendous progress in closing the gap in the country. The country was ranked 18th globally and first regionally in the Gender Inequality Index (GII) of the UN Development Programme’s Human Development Report 2020. According to the World Bank’s 2021 “Women, Business and the Law” report, the UAE topped the MENA region rankings because of significant legislative improvements relating to women’s economic involvement passed over the previous three years. The yearly report included eight indicators that are organized around how women interact with the law at different stages of their careers. Mobility, Workplace, Pay, Marriage, Parenthood, Entrepreneurship, Assets, and Pension are the indications.

“Female employees shall get wages equivalent to that of male employees if they perform the same work or another of equal value,” the UAE Labour Law stipulates. In September 2020, the Federal Law No. 6 Decree, which mandates equal pay for men and women in the private sector, went into effect. To grant women the right to work in these sectors, the UAE Labour Law provides for the elimination of all restrictions placed on them when they work at night or in jobs that require complex skills, such as those in mining, construction, manufacturing, energy, agriculture, and transportation. The law prohibits an employer from dismissing a pregnant employee or giving her a warning. The law forbids discrimination against employees in terms of employment access, promotion, and gender in positions with comparable job tasks.

In the UK, companies with more than 250 employees are now legally compelled to disclose their gender pay gap data. This law came into effect in 2017. Smaller companies should publish this as a matter of course if they wish to recruit and keep quality employees even though the law does not require it. Even if such laws exist in most parts of the civilized world, businesses must go above the bare minimum required by law. Employers should take the time to analyze their gender pay gap data and fix any inequalities at their source.

Here are four strategies that can be deployed to tackle this pay disparity.

Committing to Flexible Working

Allowing employees to work flexibly around their family commitments is easy, and doing so will help close the gap. Women frequently work fewer hours to manage family responsibilities, which inevitably lowers their pay. Women could commit to full-time employment without jeopardizing crucial family time if flexible work schedules. Flexible working for all “lies at the heart of solving the gender pay gap,” according to the Women and Equalities Committee and the House of Commons. To implement flexible working practices, businesses need to have a flexible working policy.

Producing a Narrative Report

Businesses might think about producing an additional narrative report that includes a full analysis of employee compensation, including a breakdown of the jobs, hours, and advancement data for each sex, in addition to the legally necessary gender pay gap report. Businesses can identify their weaknesses and create a time-bound and goal-driven action plan to fill any gaps they can detect by creating a report of this type. A dedication to equality should be shown by being proactive and admitting a gap exists (where applicable). Even genuine economic and societal causes for the difference may be highlighted by the study. Nevertheless, until a business makes a sincere effort to identify the source of the gap, it will not be able to know this.

Making Promotions and Pay Rise Transparent

Businesses must ensure that all employees receive equal opportunities for advancement and maintain a transparent process for promotions, wage increases, and rewards. Unconscious gender prejudice can be reduced by using systematic, exclusively skill-based interviews for hiring and promotion. The Fawcett Society also promotes salary transparency, although this topic is currently frowned upon. Campaigners want the law changed to allow women who believe they are the victims of pay discrimination to inquire about the salaries of male comparators. Employees do have the right to know how compensation increases are determined, even though they do not have the automatic right to know what their co-workers make.

Encouraging Salary Negotiation

Men and women approach compensation negotiations in different ways, according to studies, which has been suggested as a potential explanation for the gender pay discrepancy. According to reports, women are far less likely than males to negotiate their pay, putting them on lesser salaries. Employers should work to encourage everyone to bargain their pay at reviews and promote internal positions with a salary range to correct this. This will enable all co-workers to contest the offered wage and give them a fair estimate of the pay range for a certain role.

Conclusion

The UN General Assembly in 2022 has stated that closing the gender pay gap is more important than ever. The ILO has also stated that on average, women globally are paid about 20 per cent less than men are. Nevertheless, we cannot ignore some of the facts about the UAE. Numerous business sectors have seen Emirati women maintain a significant presence. For instance, they account for the same proportion of all doctors, nurses, and technicians in the health sector as well as 64% of all employees in the education sector and 31% of all employees in the finance, banking, and insurance industries. There are 80,025 licensed businesses in the UAE that are owned by women, and they hold 32.5% of the specialized professions’ managerial positions.

We hope that these discussions will inspire all interested parties to keep advocating for the principle of equal compensation for comparable work. One way to get results and increase women’s economic engagement is locally driven reforms. When it comes to changing laws to promote greater women’s economic empowerment, the UAE and Saudi Arabia are currently leading the way in the MENA region. Their leadership in introducing the set of changes will encourage other governments to prioritize amending the law to lessen gender disparities and increase the economic prospects for women.