What We’re Doing to Close the Wage Gap
April 2 is Women’s Equal Pay Day in the United States.
We won’t wish you a “happy” one – this is one of those national days that’s more about awareness than celebration. The exact date changes, but what it symbolizes is how far into the year women must work to earn what men are paid in one year. Here it is, spelled out by the National Committee on Pay Equity: Because women earn less, on average, than men, they must work longer for the same amount of pay. The wage gap is even greater for most women of color.
As a global company, we’re always working on making our workplaces more equitable. Since 2014, we’ve done compensation analyses annually to check for any gender bias in our pay rates. We found a slight discrepancy early on and corrected it immediately, and we’re proud to say there hasn’t been a gap since then. Just as we’ve committed to equal prize money for men and women at the Burton U·S·Open, we are committed to paying men and women equitably based on the work they do, not their gender.
This isn’t the only way we hope to assure gender equity in the workplace. We recognize that it’s not only mothers who need time to care for a newborn, so a flexible parental leave plan allows four weeks fully paid for all new parents, plus eight more weeks for pregnancy leave. If a new parent must travel for work, Burton has a policy to provide a caregiver for the trip. We have a solid track record of women with growing families returning to work and transitioning back into their roles, thanks to these policies and programs.
"Burton has amazing benefits," says Miya Howells, Burton Sr. Global Product Line Merchandiser. "The ones that I’ve been most blown away by are the ones that have supported my family. I am so grateful to work for a company that understands the chaos and needs of a family and has built in benefits like paid maternity/paternity, comprehensive family health care plans and dependent care FSAs that support their employees."
"I am so grateful to work for a company that understands the chaos and needs of a family."
Our work doesn’t end here. While we have nearly a 50/50 gender split with our Senior Management Team, there are still more men than women in management and director level roles. We’re committed to closing that gap in the future and getting even more women into leadership roles. The Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI) and the Women’s Professional Association (WPA) are two grassroots organizations within Burton that provide all women access to mentorship, leadership training, a speaker series, and other development opportunities. We also partner with Camber Outdoors to connect with the broader outdoor industry.
Wondering what you can do to close the wage gap? Contact your state representatives and senators to tell them how important fair pay is to you.
Here’s hoping this Women’s Equal Pay Day is the last.