Pay secrecy clauses allow this big bank to save at least $500 million on wages, report alleges
Pay confidentiality clauses are driving down wages and entrenching the gender pay gap among employees of Commonwealth Bank, according to a union report. The report also alleges that the bank is saving at least $500 million annually on wages thanks to pay secrecy rules.
The report, released by the Finance Sector Union, surveyed 284 CBA employees about their experience with pay secrecy and its impact on their working environment, according to The Australian. Ninety-four per cent (94%) said it was understood that they were not supposed to talk about their pay at work, and more than 90% believed they could get in trouble if they did, the report found.
Female respondents believed they were paid less, but felt they could not complain or pursue a pay review because they weren’t allowed to discuss remuneration and bonuses, The Australian reported.
“When employees are prohibited from discussing pay and bonuses with colleagues, it allows managers to get away with making decisions about pay based on conscious or unconscious bias,” the report said. “Pay confidentiality is well known for contributing to the gender pay gap. It is no surprise to learn that the finance industry is one of the worst performing industries each year when it comes to the gender pay gap, given their reliance on pay confidentiality clauses.”
Basing its conclusions on research by economist Jim Stanford of the Australia Institute’s Centre For Future Work, the FSU estimated that the gender pay gap at CBA results in reduced compensation for female employees of “at least half a billion dollars each year, and likely more.”
FSU national secretary Julia Angrisano told The Australian that CBA employees were allegedly “bullied, intimidated, harassed and threatened with the sack for speaking to each other about their pay and bonuses.”
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“This ban by the banks seeks to entrench the gender pay gap, and given the CBA cannot see the problem, it is time for the federal government to take action and outlaw these confidentiality clauses,” she said.
CBA adamantly denied the FSU’s allegations. A bank spokesman told The Australian that the bank “totally” rejected the claims.
“Their numbers are wrong, and frankly appear to be made up,” he said. “The $500 million figure does not exist. The union’s claim that the gender pay gap at CBA is 29% is completely wrong.”
The bank told The Australian that its employment contracts contain standard confidentiality clauses.
