The gender pay gap remains a persistent issue across industries worldwide. Despite growing awareness, it continues to highlight the disparity between the wages earned by men and women for equivalent work.
One emerging solution that has the potential to address this disparity is flexible working. These arrangements offer significant promise for narrowing the gender pay gap, but their impact is not without challenges.
Understanding flexible working
Flexible refers to any arrangement that allows employees to adapt their work schedules or locations, accommodating personal needs while maintaining productivity. This can take various forms, such as remote work, part-time roles, compressed hours, and job sharing.
Flexible working is particularly attractive to employees who balance professional commitments with caregiving responsibilities – roles traditionally held by women.
In fact, one of the primary arguments for flexible work is its ability to support a healthy work-life balance, which may disproportionately benefit women by enabling them to stay in the workforce without sacrificing career growth.
How flexible working can help close the gender pay gap
Increasing female workforce participation
A significant driver of the gender pay gap is the drop in women’s participation in the workforce, particularly after childbirth or while managing family obligations. Women are more likely than men to reduce working hours, switch to part-time roles, or take extended leave.
Flexible working arrangements can offer a lifeline to primary caregivers, allowing them to remain in the workforce, pursue full-time roles, and progress their careers without being penalised for their caregiving responsibilities.
Eliminating the ‘motherhood penalty’
The gender pay gap often widens for women after they become mothers. Studies show that women are paid less after returning to work, and fewer opportunities for promotions and leadership roles are available.
Options like remote working and flexible hours can help women maintain their professional momentum, reducing career interruptions contributing to this pay disparity.
Fostering equal access to opportunities
By encouraging remote or flexible work, organisations can remove location-based limitations, enabling employees from diverse backgrounds – including working mothers – to access opportunities that may have been otherwise out of reach.
This levels the playing field, as performance can be judged more on results than on face time at the office.
The challenges of flexible working in addressing the gender pay gap
While flexible working holds potential, we must be mindful of some challenges that, if not managed carefully, could inadvertently exacerbate the gender pay gap.
Part-time work risks
While flexible working can keep women in the workforce, many opt for part-time work, which typically offers lower pay and fewer career advancement opportunities.
People professionals must ensure that part-time employees have equal access to training, development, and promotions rather than creating a two-tier system that disadvantages part-time workers.
Bias and visibility
Flexible workers, particularly those who work remotely, may face ‘out of sight, out of mind’ bias. There’s a risk that employees who aren’t physically present in the office might be overlooked for promotions or high-visibility projects.
HR teams must ensure systems are in place to assess all employees equally, regardless of where or when they work.
Cultural shifts
Organisations must address the potential for cultural pushback against flexible working.
If flexible work is perceived as primarily for women, it could reinforce gender stereotypes and further entrench the belief that caregiving and professional sacrifices are women’s responsibility. To avoid this outcome, it is essential to encourage both men and women to embrace flexible work.
Overall, flexible working has the potential to significantly reduce the gender pay gap by supporting women’s continued workforce participation and providing them with the flexibility to balance personal and professional responsibilities. However, HR departments must ensure that flexible working policies are equitable and bias-free to maximise their impact. By creating a culture where performance is measured by results and not physical presence, businesses can move closer to closing the gender pay gap.
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