Why do women lose out from performance pay systems?
• – Women work in more low paid jobs than men. These jobs are often undervalued (seen as ‘women’s jobs’) and therefore don’t attract the same level of bonuses or performance based pay outcomes. • • – Women tend to undersell their skills and their work – they may therefore start a new job or enter a promotion on a lower base pay. They then don’t have the chance to catch up with men doing the same work, via percentage based performance payments. • • – Performance pay outcomes can be subjective. For instance, cultural factors may mean that staff are rewarded for time spent at work, rather than for work outcomes. Women tend to have a larger share of family responsibilities and are less able to work long hours. • • – More women work part-time than men. Part-time jobs may not attract the same performance pay outcomes. • • – Performance pay may be based on unfair targets. The targets may require long hours or be based on unfair assumptions about the work. For example, women are more likely to
