JOURNAL 16

JOURNAL WEEK 16

Part 1.

The issues faced for work in the future for me would be some sort of flexibility as I care for a teenager with a disability. My hours would have to be part-time and I would have to have time off for various appointments with Doctors. My best bet would be to. have a job I could do partly from home and partly from the work base

Part 2.

1. Briefly summarise why women were paid less than men.

Men where seen as the main provider for the family and women only needed to work if they had no male to support them. Therefore they were probably seen as desperate and would take any job at any wage. Yet they still had to support their family and still had the same responsibilities as the main provider.

2. What were the significant achievements by Unions regarding Equal Pay in the following years?

.1960
.1969
.1972
.1973

In 1960 equal pay for work of equal value was awarded, although specifically female work was not included and the issue of equal pay for women remained a source of hot debate throughout the 1960s
In 1969, the ACTU mounted a test case to get rid of the 25% difference that existed between pay rates for women and those for men. The court ruled that as of 1 October women would get at least 85% of the male wage; their pay would then go up in steps until 1 January 1972 when they would be rewarded with equal pay - 100% of the male wage.
This decision of the Arbitration Commission said that women who were performing the same work as men should get the same award rate of pay. This affected about 18% of women. It meant you could no longer have lower female rates for the same job
In 1972 the equal pay case was reopened. The argument presented by barrister Mary Gaudron was in line with the principles of the 1951 ILO Convention: equal pay for work of equal value.
On the 15 December 1972, the Arbitration Commission ruled that women performing predominantly women's work would get the same pay as men! In the textile , the lowest women's wages were $40 - $42 per week. After the decision and by early 1974 the lowest wage for women was $54 - that's a 35% increase!
The Arbitration Commission's decision automatically applied to women employed under federal awards but this only covered about 40 per cent of women in the workforce. This meant the beginning of an enormous campaign by unions to change the various state awards too. This was made particularly complicated because claims had to be formally heard by industrial commissions or wages boards on a state by state basis.
1973, the Commission set a minimum wage for all adults and then in 1974 it dropped the concept of 'family support' as part of the wage system.
Workers and unions are still striving for equality in actual rates of pay. This would cover inconsistencies such as over awards - when women are paid the award rate while their male colleagues receive a rate higher than the award.
3. Give three reasons why women still earn less than men.
· More women than men work part-time and therefore earn only a proportion of full-time earnings.
· Women are less likely to get paid over the award
· More men than women work because they work in areas where overtime is an option and women generally have more responsibilities in the home.

4. Which strategy to achieve equal pay do you think would be the most effective?

Join unions: female union members earn more money on average than females who don't belong to a union.
Make sure part-time workers get full pro-rata employment benefits.
.
Encourage men to share family responsibilities.
Make work more family friendly so more women and men with children can stay at work.
Ensure equal opportunity at work through a fair selection process and promotional procedures for senior jobs.
Seek equal pay for women getting lower over-award payments than men doing work of equal value
5 .Name the issue and write one fact that you discovered.

Tattoos, dreadlocks and body piercing
What’s fair fashion at work?

It could be fashion. It could be a loud statement of your individuality. It could be both. Fashion and work can collide when your boss isn’t happy with the way you look. But who’s right and what’s fair?

This is one of those tricky issues. Employers can set ‘reasonable dress standards’ but that doesn’t take away their responsibility to treat you fairly.
Check for discrimination
Employers are breaking the law if they discriminate on the basis of sex, race, disability or age. The equal opportunity laws also say employers should not discriminate because of sexual preference, religion, criminal record, political opinion or trade union activity.