Equal pay for equal work

VITALIO ANGULA
The Sullivan Principles were developed in 1977 to exert economic pressure on South Africa in protest against its apartheid-based governance system.

Leon Sullivan was an African-American member of the board of General Motors, the largest employer of black people in South Africa at the time. He was a Baptist minister and an anti-apartheid activist.

In 1999, Sullivan and Kofi Annan unveiled the new, expanded Code of Business Conduct, aimed at "increasing the active participation of business in the promotion of human rights and social justice at the international level".

The "Sullivan Global Principles" establish eight relevant principles for promoting corporate social responsibility.

By "working to eliminate the laws and customs that hinder social, economic and political justice" (7), the principles address "fair and equitable employment practices for all employees" (2) and "Equal pay for all employees performing the same or comparable duties". work for the same period of time (3). "

The relationship between employers and employees in Namibia is governed by the Labor Law of 2007 and the Positive Action (Employment) Act No. 29 of 1998, adopted by the Parliament "to address inequalities in the workplace. resulting from the discriminatory socio-economic exemption that existed in the country.

Legislation has been promulgated "to promote fair labor practices in areas such as the equitable remuneration of previously disadvantaged persons".

The confidentiality clauses and the right of employees to the confidentiality of the personal information they share with their employer favor the predominance and the frequency of wage disparities (of income) at the racial level within white, predominantly German and Afrikaans private companies. .

Multinationals in the banking sector are also known to advance the practice of racial disparities in wages. Black employees are not paid equally to their white colleagues on the grounds that white employees are better qualified, more experienced, and exercise good judgment in carrying out their duties and responsibilities at work.

Therefore, the practice distorts the misconception that white employees are more apt to climb the corporate ladder to increase compensation through the promotion of employment.

HR best practices regarding pay ranges deal with the question of whether it is acceptable for a supervisor to receive a lower salary than that of his subordinate. A leading company in Namibia, previously rewarded for being "the best company to work for", exasperated employees with its practice of negotiating bad-faith work contracts.

A black business executive is negotiated in terms of starting salary and is afraid to accept this offer on the premise that he should be grateful to be offered a job opportunity that 39, it would not have had if the company had not been provided. opportunity, given the high unemployment rate in the country.

With years of experience and dedication to work, the black business sales manager will be able to progress in the career, but his compensation will still be tied to his starting salary. However, when a white employee is interviewed for a position within the sales team, the maximum salary corresponding to that position is offered to him, which means that he will be paid in more than his supervisor in the workplace and that wage gap will remain constant. a period of time.

The above example illustrates the need for employers to become aware of the need to create internal equity in the management of their human resources, as such unfair labor practices generate conflicts in the workplace.

It can be argued that what someone wins does not lie in information belonging to the public space. In an unequal society such as Namibia, money is considered a private matter in order to avoid unwarranted attention from family members for those with higher incomes.

The stigma associated with low incomes (especially men) as ineligible contenders for court attendance, as well as superstitious witchcraft fears encouraging Africans to share information about their income, are all reasons given by privacy advocates. grades.

Unlike the Scandinavian countries that practice transparency to reduce the historical prevalence of gender pay gaps, Namibians fear open and honest discussions about wages, which maintains the practice of unfair labor practice.

Equal pay for equal work is an idea consistent with the values ​​of social, economic and political justice. Given racial inequality in Namibia, it is the responsibility of employers to put an end to the practice of racism in the form of income (wage) inequality based on racial criteria.

The practice is widespread but hidden under the guise of confidentiality of personal information, as opposed to transparency to ensure racial fairness in compensation.

* Vitalio Angula is an independent socio-political commentator and editorialist.