Women and implementation of equal pay in the workplace in developing countries

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Abstract

The post-apartheid regime introduced reforms in the labor law of South Africa. The reforms aimed to redress inequality among workers regardless of gender. The article engages policies and labor laws under the Labor Relations Act 66 of 1995, to an association of trade unions’ rights. Specifically, the labor laws aspect that deals with equal pay was examined for women workers to understand the dimension of gender equality in the labor market of South Africa after 1994. Inequality in pay gaps for professional women across all sectors of the economy is yet to be unraveled. The study explores pay differentiation in the workplace from the dimension of policy review. Concepts of fairness, equity, and the legal framework of South Africa were explored in terms of working conditions and equal pay implementation (Matotoka & Odeku, 2022). The phenomenology approach was used in this study to understand the issues of pay gaps and career experiences of professional women. The findings are counter-intuitive. The analysis reveals the distance between equality policy and conflicting organizational cultures resulting in continued inequality experiences for professional women. This paper contributes to an understanding of corporate law and governance in terms of inequality and social injustice in post-apartheid South Africa.

Keywords: Policy, Labor Law, Governance, Inequality, Women, South Africa, Workplace

Authors’ individual contribution: Conceptualization — A.G.D. and M.D.; Methodology — A.G.D. and M.D.; Investigation — A.G.D. and M.D.; Formal Analysis — A.G.D. and M.D.; Writing — Original Draft — A.G.D. and M.D.; Writing — Review & Editing — A.G.D. and M.D.

Declaration of conflicting interests: The Authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

JEL Classification: J710, J780, J810

Received: 25.05.2023
Accepted: 12.12.2023
Published online: 15.12.2023

How to cite this paper: Dosunmu, A. G., & Dichaba, M. (2023). Women and implementation of equal pay in the workplace in developing countries [Special issue]. Corporate Law & Governance Review, 5(2), 266–277. https://doi.org/10.22495/clgrv5i2sip14