Research Paper on Equal Work Equal Pay and Women's Rights

Introduction

The concept of equal work equal pay is the principle of labor rights that stipulates that individuals working in the same place are entitled to be remunerated equally notwithstanding the gender factor. This concept has frequently been applied in the context of sexual discrimination in relation to the ever existing gender pay gap (McCann, pp. 107-108). International Labor Organization Convention No. 100 defines equal pay for equal work as the rates of payments established without any form of gender discrimination (Saul, David, and Jacqueline, pp. 107-109). Notably, an equal pay entails full rate of payments, benefits, allowances, and bonuses besides the basic pay. Since the signing of the " Equal Pay Act "of 1963 by President John F. Kennedy in the United States, it has since been unlawful to pay men and women working in the same level or place different salaries for similar kind of job. Hence women are entitled to the same rights as equal remuneration as men (McCann, pp. 112-133).

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Globally, women only comprise about 77% for every dollar earned by men, and therefore there exist a lifetime of income inequality between men and women that are against the odds on women side. This manner of inequality is infringing women's right in the society since it affects the average salaries and wages they are entitled to across many countries in the globe (McCann, pg.117). Women have been viewed in many societies are being inferior to their men counterparts, and therefore the work they perform have been continuously undervalued hence making them be concentrated on various jobs than men (McCann, pg. 141). Although the work performed by both men and women require the same efforts and skills, when it comes to women, they skills part of the work is overlooked, and they are instead being paid a lesser amount and most worryingly, is that women of color, mothers and immigrant women, the gap is even more extensive (McCann, pp. 156-158).

Moreover, the commonly referred to as the "motherhood penalty" has pushed many women to work in the informal sector of the economy and other casual and part-time work. This act should stop especially in developing countries where this discrimination is prevalent as compared to developed countries (Booth, Christine, and Cinnamon, pg. 432).

Requirements of the Law

The law of equal pay relates to the equity principle. The law sets outs in the equality of terms of how women and men should be regarded and treated when it comes to the working environment, and this is nothing else than equality (Booth, Christine, and Cinnamon, pg. 432). This principle stipulates that both women and their men counterparts should be paid equally for similar kind of work and other contractual terms. Therefore this principle implies that, women contractual terms should not be less favorable as that of men (Booth, Christine, and Cinnamon, pp. 433-435). The principle provides various equality of terms and other benefits packages like the non-discriminatory bonus, hours of work and other fringe benefits like travel allowance. Notably, there are instances that a woman can claim equal pay as a man in the following scenarios; first for the same employer at a similar workplace, secondly, for the same employer but different work environment where same terms and condition apply, for instance for a branch or an outlet of the main company and lastly for an associate-employer, for instance at her employers main office company (Booth, Christine, and Cinnamon, pp.437-440).

Essentially, the European Union Laws also permit women to compare themselves to men who are not in the same employment category but where the payments originate from a single source (Booth, Christine, and Cinnamon, pp.441-445). This will ensure equal rights of both men and women

Women Deserve Equal Pay

Women are not receiving equal payments for equal work, let alone the other side of equal pay for work for equal value (Rubenstein, pp. 2-5). This disparity has no doubt infringed women's rights and is affecting their spending power besides penalizing their extended retirement benefits by creating gaps in different social security and pensions. According to the Shriver research report of 2014, women's average annual payment has shown a reflection of 77 percent for every 1 dollar earned by their men counterparts (Rubenstein, pp. 3-7). Particularly for women of race and color, the gap has been on an increasing trend especially in developing countries. For instance, doing a comparison to the white, non-Hispanic man's dollar, African American women earn about 64% and Latinas 55% (Rubenstein, pg. 8).

The payment disparities of women that have deprived them continuously of their rights vary according to different location and countries. For instance, in Washington DC, an average of 90% as compared to every mans a dollar, this has been due to the transparency the government has demonstrated when it comes to wages, however, this percentage is large especially in developing African countries(Rubenstein, pp. 10-12). Ironically, the equality concept has been worse in some regions like Wyoming earning about 64% of what men earn.

When the Equal Pay Act was passed in 1963, full time employed women were entitled to a payment of an average of 59% on every dollar earned by men (Treiman, pp. 47-50). This implies that it took a whopping 44 years for the wage gap disparity to be minimized for just 18 cents, which was a representative of less than a penny annually. The gap has been slowing down significantly since the turn of the century. Notably, women's payments in relation to that of men were only equal to median payments in personal care and other service work during 2009 (Treiman, pp. 47-50).

According to studies conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2009, construction was the only industry that tried to bridge the gap of wage disparity between men and women. Moreover, even male employees working in 30 most common jobs associated with women earn a higher figure than the women undertaking similar kind of work (Treiman, pp. 49-57). Similarly, research also conducted by Institute for Women Policy Research revealed that, if equal wages for women across the globe was applied, it would give an output figure of $ 447 billion increase for many women and their families (Treiman, pp. 47-50). For over 17 years typical women losses about $ 499, 100 due to pay inequality, hence different strict international laws should be implemented to curb this gap since every person is equal in terms of skills and capabilities required for specific jobs and payments. Therefore both men and women should be subjected to equal pay for similar work rendered.

The wage gap has further affected and brought more negative consequences to women since an estimate that women with diploma qualifications lose as $700, 000 over their working lifetime whereas women with degree qualifications in relevant fields losses about $ 1.3 million (Treiman, pp. 56-69). Not only are these inequalities are detrimental to women's right to equal payments as men in a short span, but they also lead to future consequences since it reduces women retirement benefits and other financial gains at their retirement age. They cannot get equitable payment as men. This should not be the case, a retirement benefit of both men and women performing similar work should be equal (Treiman, pp. 75-78).

According to a research conducted by the American Association of University Women, which was solely based on the effects of discriminatory human rights In relation to payment disparity on university graduates, revealed that wage disparity starts after graduation (Saul, David, and Jacqueline, pp. 107-109). Women and men should be on the same level of playing the field when it comes to receiving remuneration for similar kind of work. Roughly one year after graduating, graduate women are paid an average of 82% of the male wages, and after the next 10 years, women wages have been revealed to be declining further to about 68% of their men counterparts after college (Saul, David, and Jacqueline, pp. 107-109).

Conclusion

In summary, women as their male counterpart deserve equal pay for similar work since both genders pose the required work qualifications and skills. In addition, women should not be viewed as a marginalized group suitable for "pink collar" since this is a discriminatory violation of their rights of equal remuneration as their man counterparts. An international campaign should be staged and to eliminate this wage disparity so that women rights in the labor market to be upheld and respected especially in developing countries, hence this will create a workable society of both men and women with similar spending power without any form of discrimination.

Works Cited

Booth, Christine, and Cinnamon Bennett. "Gender mainstreaming in the European Union: towards a new conception and practice of equal opportunities?." European Journal of Women's Studies 9.4 (2002): 430-446.

McCann, Michael W. Rights at work: Pay equity reform and the politics of legal mobilization. University of Chicago Press, 1994.

Rubenstein, Michael. "Introduction." Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value, 1984, pp. 1-12.

Saul, Ben, David Kinley, and Jacqueline Mowbray. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Commentary, Cases, and Materials. , 2014. Print.

Treiman, Donald J. Women, Work, and Wages: Equal Pay for Jobs of Equal Value. New York: Nat. Academy Pr, 1984. Print.