Closing the gender pay gap
Aurecon aims to improve gender representation in our workforce and leadership, and to play our part in progressing gender equality.
It is important to understand the context and different types of gender equity data that are measured.
Gender pay equity
Gender pay equity is equal pay for equal work, sometimes known as the ‘like for like’ gender pay gap. That is, people undertaking the same work being paid the same, regardless of gender.
Gender parity
When both men and women are equally represented at all levels within the workplace.
Gender pay gap
The gap between the median wages of all women and the median wages of all men across an organisation, no matter their position and employment status, sometimes known as the ‘organisation wide’ gender pay gap. Typically, you need men and women to be evenly represented across the organisation to close the gap.
How Aurecon is closing the gender pay gap
The gender pay gap is broadly defined as the gap or variance between what men and women are paid on average within the workforce. Gender pay gaps commonly reflect the following factors across organisations:
- Leadership gap – more men than women hold higher paying leadership roles
- Occupational segregation – a higher proportion of women in support roles that are paid less, while men are more likely to be in higher paid operational roles
- Industry segregation – female-dominated industries (eg teaching and caring) attract lower wages than male-dominated industries (eg engineering)
- Salary negotiation gap / promotion rates – men are more likely to successfully negotiate salary and promotions, while women are more likely to be penalised when they negotiate salary and promotions
- Inequity in access to discretionary pay – men are more likely to be in roles that attract discretionary pay, and receive it in larger amounts
- Bias – about the role men and women should play in the workplace and gender biases at hire and remuneration reviews
- Flexible work and perception of part-time work – women are more likely to work part-time or flexibly and therefore find it more difficult to access senior roles; they may be perceived to be less ambitious and fall behind in responsibility, promotion, and prestigious work
- Career breaks – women are more likely to take career breaks resulting in them missing out on career opportunities, promotions and salary increments
Closing the gender pay gap typically relies on addressing all these elements. Equal pay for equal work will typically not close the overall gender gap especially if genders are not equally represented at each level of the organisation.
For Aotearoa New Zealand, Aurecon’s organisation wide Gender Pay Gap is 15.7%.
At Aurecon, Gender Pay Equity (‘like for like’ gender pay gap) is non-negotiable with pay parity reviews completed quarterly and any emerging gaps remedied.
We also have the following Gender Equality initiatives in place:
- Recruitment and gender targets: In Aotearoa New Zealand, Managing Director, Tracey Ryan, has a 56% female representation in her leadership team.
- Partnering with education institutions
- Leadership development programmes
- Five policies which support gender diversity and inclusion:
- Parenting support
- Workplace flexibility
- Cultural public holiday swap
- Working Holiday Initiative
- Intimate partner, domestic and family violence
