Gender Pay Gap as an Ethical Issue in Business

This article discusses the ethical issue of gender pay gap in business, focusing on its impact on employees, stakeholders, and the public image of the company. It explores two ethical theories - utilitarianism and Rawl's principles of justice. The article also provides strategies for managing the business ethically.

Business ethics

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
PART 1............................................................................................................................................3
a) Gender pay gap as an issue related with ethics........................................................................3
b) Ethical theories........................................................................................................................6
PART 2............................................................................................................................................7
Managing the business by ethical leader.....................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
The term Ethics is a branch of belief that includes systematizing, defending, and
recommending the idea of right and wrong conduct. Whereas, ethics of business means the study
of appropriate business practices and policies in respect of controversial subjects like corporate
social responsibility, discrimination etc (Banks and et.al, 2016). The term gender pay gap is the
measure of median wage. It is the deviation between middle ranking women and middle ranking
men. The Report is based on Sainsbury Plc. It was founded in year 1869 by John James
Sainsbury. Headquarter of the firm is located in London, UK. It operates the business at global
level due to which it currently employed nearly 186,900 employees in year 2018. The Report
will outline the gender pay gap as an ethical issue. Further, the Report will outline two ethical
theories, reflection of ethical leader etc.
PART 1
a) Gender pay gap as an issue related with ethics.
The gender pay gap is not a moral panic but, it is a real issue. Many female are unable to
get ahead in respective careers due to demands of elder care and motherhood which is
disproportionality lie on their shoulders. As per the research, there are nearly 78 % firms who
have reported a median wage inequality in favour of men. Some sectors are worse go against as
compared to others. Example – Sectors like finance and construction etc. are unequal with
median hourly wage gap is more than 20 %. As per National Statistics, in UK the average pay
gap in previous year was 18.4 % (The Guardian view on the gender pay gap, 2018). A pay gap
between women is also symptomatic of a broader problem with pay reward in unequal manner.
The problem of unequal gender pay is also called burning justice. Moving away from
categorizations of women as relational and caring, disabled are more dependent is and should be
a social process. In the workplace of Sainsbury, the equality in pay to male and female should be
supported by an open engagement with alternatives to middle class, masculine, white ways of
being and work. Inequalities are continued because of various identities are ignored by the
business and compared to the one that is predominated (Baron, 2017). An ethics of inclusion is
regarding a relational engagement with individuals as disables, woman and so on. As per the
given publication of the Government, women gets 96p for every £1 that male employees earn as
compared with median hourly wages. The median hourly wage for women is lower by 3.7 % as
compared with male employees. It clearly reflects the inequality in the payment of the wages to

men and women. In Sainsbury, female occupies 39 % of jobs that are highest paid whereas, they
occupies 66.1 % of the jobs that are lowest paid in the firm. In relation with bonus pay gap,
female take 70p for every £1 that male employees earn as compared with median bonus pay.
Their median bonus pay is 29.6 % lower than compared with the average bonus pay of male
employees.
Thus, gap in gender pay is one of the major issues which is identified and it will lead to
demotivation among employees due to not getting equivalent wages. As men and women are
equal and also carry the equal capabilities in respect of completing the task. Thus, companies are
not adapting these aspects which results in getting fewer women empowerment (Breach and Li,
2017).
Impact on public image of the company -
Sainsbury is focusing on gender pay gap as an issue related with ethics because it majorly
impacts the reputation of the company in the society in which business exists. Company is
committed to offer equality of opportunity. Human Resource Manager of the company provides
payment to workers according to their role not as per their gender. Example – Male and female
workers that are doing similar job in the stores of organization are paid same hourly rate.
Stakeholders -
Attaining gender pay equality in the workplace is an important issue not just only for
human resource but also for all the other stakeholders of Sainsbury. Finalising the gender wage
gap matters for different stakeholders and makes a deviation not only to the lowermost line but
also for the society as well. The issue of gender pay gap influences different stakeholders of the
organization. Example - employees, investors, government etc.
Employees are one of the major stakeholder that are greatly influenced by gender pay
gap. It does not only affect the female once in their life. It has a combines impact that results into
reduction in earning capacity of the female over lifetime. Due to this, there will be less chances
for women working in Sainsbury to progress as compared with male workers and it results into
less accumulation of money for retirement. It also affects the attitude and behaviour of
employees. As a result, it negatively affects the performance of firm (Chell and et.al, 2016).
Another major stakeholder in gender pay gap is Government. The Government of country
should tackle all the forms of gender inequality. It is important for the government, often in

partnership with private sector firms to make efforts for reducing gender pay gap. Further,
government should apply different types of interventions to minimize the gender gap. It includes
policies, laws, financial incentives, technology and infrastructure, capacity building etc.
Example – Government has used the system of tax effectively to provide new opportunities for
female.
Further, gender pay gap also influences investors who invest funds in Sainsbury. In short,
equity in gender pay contributes to the lower line. When workers feel that they are being
rewarded by the employer they are more motivated and engaged that results into high rate of
retention and better decision-making. As per the research, firms who prioritize equity in payment
to employees are more likely to have returns of financial nature on the above the median of
national industry.
It is recommended that Sainsbury should adopt different measures to close the gender
gap. Firstly, management of Sainsbury should involve multiple female in shortlist for hiring and
promotions. When putting collectively a list of qualifies personnels management should ensure
that one woman is included. Further, rather than relying only on the method of interview, firm
should ask individuals to perform activities they would be anticipated to perform in their role
they are applying for. Management of Sainsbury should use their performance on the job to
determine their suitability for the job (Crane and et.al, 2019).
Moreover, company should promote transparency in payment, promotion and reward
process. It means, workers are clear respect what is interested and managers should understand
that their judgement should be based on evidence because this conclusion can be reviewed by
other people. It has been recommended that Sainsbury should appoint activities forces monitor
talent management processes and diversity managers within the business. This will help to
reduce the bias in the process of promotion and recruitment because people who are taking
decisions are aware that their judgement may be reviewed. This will help to improve
representation of the female in Sainsbury. Managers of managing diversity should have
executive role in the business, have visibility of internal data, they should be empowered to
implement and develop diversity strategies and policies etc.
Further, management of Sainsbury should also consider some promising actions. Firm
should focus on improving workplace flexibility for women and men. It should allow flexibility
in work, encourage male employees to work flexibly so that, it is not considered as only benefit

to female. Moreover, human resource department of Sainsbury should provide sponsorship and
mentoring to their mentees. As per the research, mentoring programmes work well for some
female but not for others (Crane and et.al, 2019).
b) Ethical theories.
In relation to the case study, the two choosen theories are utilitarian theory and Rawl's
idea of social justice. Utilitarianism theory is a descriptive ethical theory that focuses of the
wrong and right only on the impact of choosing specific policy over another policy. Act
utilitarianism is the rule of utility that is applied to each option act in a situation of choice. Rule
utilitarianism is the principle of utility is used to evaluate the credibility of the rules of
behaviour. It is based on the outcomes where the greatest happiness principle is used to evaluate
the morality of one's actions. The theory of Utilitarianism is categorized into Rule Utilitarianism
and Act Utilitarianism.
In case of Act Utilitarianism, the decision of Sainsbury will be based on a specific
activity and the case of Denise Batt vs Palmece Ltd, t/a Comfort Inn. will be utilised. Further, by
discriminating on the basis of gender Sainsbury may lose skilled and competent employees.
Further, as a result of inequality management may have to compensate the female employees. To
evaluate the general happiness, Sainsbury is required to take into consideration the pain and
happiness of other parties. Female workers may suffer pain as a consequence of inequality in
payment for the work performance. Management is also required to take into consideration the
skill turning obsolete, loss of self improvement opportunity and deterioration of health (Graf,
Brown and Patten, 2018).
Rule Utilitarianism considers social and economic impact of inequality in payment to
male and female. Gender pay gap against on the job female will not only impact the work
attitude of working female but it will affect women in general. This will affect the workers at a
future point of time. This will reduce the level of morale of the employees that will negatively
affect their efficiency and loyalty. Moreover, it negatively influences the productivity of work
performance of the employees working in Sainsbury. Further, the firm may also expose itself to
unnecessary case of courts that will result in loss of reputation which will later on minimizes
future profitability of Sainsbury. Therefore, when firm evaluates the workers on the basis of
merits, it is one of the best way because they possess appropriate knowledge, skills and
competencies that also helps to promote welfare (James, 2017). On the other hand, there is no

confusion that qualifications,skills and competencies are the essential criteria for selecting the
workers and making payment to them. In the case of developed community, the focus is on
discrimination of working female, this has impact on all the female because it is a cycle and it
considers the ratio of women in total workforce.
Another major theory is Rawls Principles of Justice. According to the theory, community
will conform to the rules that every individual would agree to in the current position. This gives
the development of Rawl's principle of justice that is all individuals is having equal claims to as
much freedom as is conformity with everyone having similar level of freedom. Second principle
of the author is that employees working in organization in their original position will tolerate
inequalities only in case if their job that pay more are not assigned in unfair manner. Therefore,
inequalities among employees are allowed only if it raises through the job that equally talented
people have equal opportunity to get (O’Reilly and et.al, 2015).
According to the principle of equal liberty, when employer of Sainsbury discriminates on
the basis of pay against working female to increase economic growth in that case, this principle
is violated because they are restricting the liberty for the sake of economic advantage. Therefore,
as per the principles of Rawl, liberty should not be traded for the social or economic benefits.
As per difference principle, burdens and responsibilities should be provided to the employees on
the basis of needs. Equality of the opportunity is major concern that surrounds discrimination
because it is related with unequal opportunities. According to the research in relation with gender
inequality in the workplace, working female are being provided lower salaries as compared with
male employees and are sensed to be less dedicated as compared to female without children even
though they are equally qualified (Polachek, 2019). Therefore, it can be said that the situation of
inequality in Sainsbury would lead to unequal opportunities. Therefore, Rawls is against
discrimination like gender pay gap because it violates the principle of equal opportunities. There
are still some individuals who are suffering from unjust influence of inequality and injustice.
PART 2
Managing the business by ethical leader.
With the help of above case study, I have analysed that there are various things that are
essential to become an ethical leader. For being an ethical leader, it is important that leader
should be a master of ethics (Stanberry, 2018). They must focus on overall value of ethics and
how it contributes to management of human resource. Conflict resolution is a consistent

challenge for the leader of Sainsbury. In my view, if leader ignore the issues of workers it can
disrupt the momentum of team or whole organization. Therefore, it is important that the leader of
Sainsbury should be concerned regarding the welfare of workers working in the firm. Moreover,
leader of the firm should adopt a clear code of conduct. Having a clear code of conduct will help
workers to understand each and every aspect of ethical continuum that the firm implements.
Philosophical leader should not use the employees as a medium for achieving personal goals.
Leader must respect the feelings, values and decisions of workers. In my opinion, leader of
Sainsbury should place the interest of the employees ahead of own interest. Further, it is
important that leader should treat the employees in equal manner. There should be no personal
bias. I have analysed that, leader of Sainsbury should consider own purpose as well as the
purpose of workers while making the efforts to attain the aim and objectives to both of them.
Leader should not overlook the intentions of the employees. Another important thing for being
an ethical leader is honesty. It is important that leader of Sainsbury should be honest for being an
ethical leader.
As an ethical leader it is important that business follows an unethical path for its growth
and profitability. Though I know that there is very fine line between making choices related to
the financial gains and choices which will not be affecting the other people. But I will ensure that
the financial gains are not driven to the company ion cost of people. Ethical culture in every
organisation starts from very top in the organisation that is starting from a leader and top
executives. For implementing ethics in business it is important that I demonstrate ethical practice
in all the situations. True test of leader is seen when there is choice between the decision-making
process and I being leader would be ensuring that choice that brings gain to the company
ethically is made. When I will be choosing the path that is ethical rather than one which is
financially driven my whole team will be driven towards that path that will help in creating a
strong ethical culture for the organisation. When I as a leader would be strongly sticking over the
right path my whole team will be following the same ethical path. Being a leader I will also that
all the rules and regulation are being complied by the organisation on the given time. I will
ensure that all the laws at federal, state and local levels are adhered to by the company. This
will be representing the positive image of the company that company is following all the rules
and regulations ethically and is not making defaults in payments of its dues. I will also be
ensuring that CSR and other policies related to the society and environment are followed by the

organisation so that positive picture of the companies represented in the society that will help in
increasing the business of company. Integrity and fairness if another characteristic of a good
leader and I will deal fairly with my employees and team members by effective communication
and interactions. This will help to know the actual issues that are faced by the team so that I van
solve their issues. I will be honestly communicating with the employees without unreachable
targets that will drive them to unethical paths. I will be maintaining effective relationship with
customers and employees that will help in reaping the benefits to organisation. I will ensure that
no customer or employee of the organisation is treated unethically and their personal dignity is
not harmed. If I treat employees unethically it may lead to the chances that they will be treating
their sub ordinates unethically this will affect the whole ethical structure of the organisation. For
having an culture of equality I will look that no discrimination is made between the employees
on the basis of their cultural backgrounds, race, gender or religion. I will ensure that promotions
are made on the basis of their work and efforts and not on other discriminatory factors. I will lay
core values to be followed in the business s that unethical behaviours are not promoted in the
organisation.
CONCLUSION
The above report has described that the issue of gender pay gap is also known as burning
justice. In Sainsbury majority of high level job positions are occupied by male employees as
compared with female workers. Company is also focussing on gap in gender pay and it is
committed to provide an equal opportunity to the employee's. Gender pay equality in the
organization is a major issue not just only for human resource but also for all the other
stakeholders of Sainsbury. It also affects various stakeholders like employees. Management,
investors, government and suppliers of the business. It has been concluded that, company should
adopt different measures to reduce the level of gender pay gap. Management of Sainsbury should
involve various females in shortlisting for the process of promotions and hiring. Company should
also allow flexibility in work to the employee's.
REFERENCES
Books and Journals -

Banks, G.C., and et.al, 2016. Management’s science–practice gap: A grand challenge for all
stakeholders. Academy of Management Journal, 59(6). pp.2205-2231.
Baron, J., 2017. Uncertainty and Probability within Utilitarian Theory. Diametros, (53), pp.6-25.
Breach, A. and Li, Y., 2017. Gender pay gap by ethnicity in Britain–briefing. Fawcett Society
https://www. fawcettsociety. org. uk/gender-pay-by-ethnicity-britain.
Chell, E., and et.al, 2016. Social entrepreneurship and business ethics: Does social equal ethical?.
Journal of business ethics. 133(4). pp.619-625.
Crane, A., and et.al, 2019. Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in
the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.
Equality and Human Rights Commission, 2018. Closing the Gender Pay Gap.
Graf, N., Brown, A. and Patten, E., 2018. The narrowing, but persistent, gender gap in pay. Pew
Research Center. April, 9.
James, A., 2017. Constructing justice for existing practice: Rawls and the status quo. In John
Rawls (pp. 69-104). Routledge.
Miller, K. and Vagins, D.J., 2018. The simple truth about the gender pay gap. American
Association of University Women.
O’Reilly, J., and et.al, 2015. Equal pay as a moving target: International perspectives on forty-
years of addressing the gender pay gap. Cambridge Journal of Economics. 39(2). pp.299-317.
Polachek, S.W., 2019. Equal pay legislation and the gender wage gap. IZA World of Labor.
Stanberry, K., 2018. Closing the gender pay gap: New approaches to an old problem.
Compensation & Benefits Review. 50(4). pp.189-195.
Vaughn, L., 2015. Doing ethics: Moral reasoning and contemporary issues. WW Norton &
Company.
Online -
The Guardian view on the gender pay gap. 2018. Online Available Through :
<https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/04/the-guardian-view-on-the-
gender-pay-gap-a-symptom-of-deep-prejudice>