WHAT IS THE EQUAL-SALARY Gender & Ethnicity Certification
AND WHO IS IT FOR?
The EQUAL-SALARY Gender & Ethnicity Certification is a process that allows companies to verify and communicate that they pay all their employees equally for the same job or for job of the same value regardless of gender or ethnicity. It is aimed at companies in all countries and across all industries with 100 or more employees (with at least one ethnicity category containing 50 employees or more and at least on other ethnic group must contain 10 employees or more) that are committed to closing the wage gap.
When you get certified, it’s a chance to put your values into action and build a solid foundation for your ESG strategy. To prove your commitment to equal pay for all. That means added value for your company, better employee recruitment and retention, more diversity in your teams, a stronger reputation and much more. Plus you get the bonus of knowing that you’re doing the right thing.
Help your organization stand out for all the right reasons and get certified today.
"Job applicants with "white" sounding names recieve 50% more callbacks than those with "black" sounding names, despite identical resumes."
National Bureau of Economic Research 20O3
HOW DOES THE EQUAL-SALARY CERTIFICATION FOR GENDER & ETHNICITY WORK?
Salary analysis
The EQUAL-SALARY Foundation collects all of your employee salary data securely and anonymously. It is then analyzed to see if the wage difference related to gender and ethnicity is less than or equal to 5%, and if the R-squared value is higher than or equal to 90%. If all goes well, it’s time to move on to step 2.
On-site review
Following international quality standards, our auditing team makes sure EQUAL-SALARY requirements are met while assessing the following:
CEO/top management’s commitment to equal pay for all;
How well equal pay strategies are integrated into the HR processes and policies;
Employees’ perception of the company’s pay practices.
Certification
Depending on the results of the audit, your company is awarded the EQUAL-SALARY Gender & Ethnicity Certificate from the EQUAL-SALARY Foundation. You’re then free to promote your certification in your company’s communications with tangible proof that you support and practice equal pay in the workplace.
Monitoring reviews
Your certification is valid for three years. During this period, you will need to undergo two monitoring reviews, to show your ongoing commitment to a fair and non-discriminatory wage policy. You’ve come this far; keep up the good work!
WHAT SETS EQUAL-SALARY APART?
Why ours is the certification your company needs
WE’VE GOT
The credibility
EQUAL-SALARY is the only non-profit organization to promote equal pay between women and men using a methodology developed in collaboration with the University of Geneva in Switzerland and Boston University, Washington University in Saint-Louis and Georgetown University in the United States.
EQUAL-SALARY is also the only equal pay certification in the world with a methodology based on hard evidence (salary analysis) addressing the racial/ethnic pay gap.
Moreover, audit procedures have been designed specifically with racial sensitivities in mind, including e.g. availability of racially diverse auditors, auto-declaration of racial/ethnic identity.
The achievements
130 companies have been EQUAL-SALARY certified worldwide to date. Check out the list of all certified companies.
The partners
Our equal pay certifications are implemented by world-leading auditing partners, lending serious credibility not only to EQUAL-SALARY but to the equal pay movement as a whole.
AUDIT PARTNERS
METHODOLOGY PARTNERS
EQUAL-SALARY GENDER & ETHNICITY CHECKLIST
Things to know and what to expect when applying for the EQUAL-SALARY Gender & Ethnicity certification:
In today’s business climate, it’s not enough to say your company supports equal pay for the same job or for a job of equal value, regardless of ethnic background. You need to prove it. Getting certified allows your organization to demonstrate good governance and transparency. It significantly improves your ability to attract and retain strong and diverse talent. It helps your company do the right thing: close the ethnicity wage gap, gain a competitive advantage, and position yourself as leaders in diversity and inclusion. It also allows your organization to anticipate and mitigate risk of any potential unequal pay case and create the foundation for a robust ESG strategy.
1. There must be at least 100 employees in-scope, 10 of which are women.
2. Disclosure rate: data about ethnicity must be available for minimum 70% of the employees in scope.
3. At least one ethnicity category must contain 50 employees or more.
- Data about ethnicity for minimum 70% of the employees in scope
- Full salary data in digital format (Excel)
- A well-documented salary policy
- Formalized HR processes
- The involvement of employees through surveys and interviews
- A gender & ethnicity pay gap of less than five percent with a R2 of at least 90%
- A commitment to equal pay clearly supported by top management
- Fully implemented HR processes, including indicators implemented by gender
The costs of the certification depend on the size of the organization (number of employees and number of sites). They include the Certification fees, the salary analysis and the on-site audits.
QUANTITATIVE PHASE:
Statistical analysis of salary data to measure the ethnicity pay gap within the company and a list of individual discrepancies to be explained or addressed, where applicable.
QUALITATIVE PHASE:
On site audit to assess the company’s overall commitment to equal pay, and its implementation in HR processes. Employees are involved through surveys and interviews.
Depending on your preparation and readiness, the process takes minimum 4 to 6 months. The internal workload for the organization’s staff takes approx. 20 days if you already have the ethnicity data of all your employees.
The EQUAL-SALARY Gender & Ethnicity Certificate is valid for three years. Following the main initial audit, the organization will need to undergo two monitoring audits in years 2 and 3.
LET'S TALK EQUAL PAY
Vevey/Geneva, April 25, 2024 – The EQUAL-SALARY Foundation is pleased to announce that Mazars Holding SA has obtained the EQUAL-SALARY certification for all its employees in Switzerland. The international EQUAL-SALARY…
Original article in German from Personalwirtschaft by author Kirstin Gründel. Access it here. There are many challenges on the way to becoming an EQUAL-SALARY certified company. However, every company is…
The pay gap between white people and people of colour is nothing new. It’s a well-documented issue that has persisted for decades. While there has been some progress made in…
