Today (August 13) marks Black Women’s Equal Pay Day in the US. It’s the date in the new year when Black women finally earn what White, non-Hispanic men made last year alone. In short, it basically means Black women have fewer dollars in their pockets to weather a crisis like the current pandemic, according to the Center for American Progress.
“In 2020, Black women had to work seven-and-a-half months beyond 2019 – until August 13 – to earn what their White male counterparts earned in 2019,” notes Jocelyn Frye, Senior Fellow at American Progress, and expert on pay equity and women’s leadership.
The disparity between Black female and White male earnings, unfortunately, is nothing new. She and many other diversity champions fighting for equal pay for Black women in the US confirm that there’s now a “critical need for action” at all levels to address the pay discrimination that Black women experience. They believe employers have a vital role to play in setting the tone and establishing pay practices within workplaces to correct the disparities that have eroded Black women’s pay for decades.
TIME FOR CONCRETE ACTION
“Black women deserve to be paid fairly for their work, and the time for action is long overdue. Statements of support on Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, while important to show solidarity and commitment, are not a substitute for concrete action. Employers should take intentional steps, such as the actions discussed in this column, to address pay disparities experienced by Black women and help ensure that pay practices utilized throughout workplaces are administered in a fair and even-handed manner,” says Frye. “This work should be a top priority for all employers and is essential to making the promise of equal pay a reality for Black women.”
Frye recommends 10 concrete actions that employers can take to address Black women’s pay gap. They include:
1. Undertake a compensation audit.
2. Provide greater pay transparency.
3. Undertake job analyses to identify comparable jobs and disrupt occupational segregation.
4. Raise the minimum wage and eliminate tipped and subminimum wages.
.5. Discontinue use of salary history in hiring and compensation decisions
6. Commit to an equal pay ‘right to request’ or ‘bill of rights’.
7. Establish an internal working group with senior-, mid- and junior-level representation to foster greater understanding about pay practices.
8. Elevate more Black women into leadership positions.
9. Adopt robust policies to address work-family conflicts and financial insecurity.
10. Provide comprehensive anti-bias training for all employees.
Check out Jocelyn Frye’s complete recommendations on the actions employers can take to address the Black women’s pay gap here.
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