As it is International Women’s Day, what better time to reflect on the past year and the huge impact the pandemic has had on women in the world of work?

The pandemic has affected everyone, but as a survey by the Institute of Fiscal Studies shows, the disproportionate impact on women is undeniable:

• Women are 47% more likely to have permanently lost their jobs; and
• Women are 14% more likely to be furloughed.

Many women already face unconscious bias in the workplace, but they are now faced with a completely new set of challenges resulting from the pandemic, such as new ways of working and government initiatives.

This article will discuss and highlight the most prominent new challenges women are now tackling and what organisations can do to support them.

Juggling home-working, home-schooling and childcare
Whilst working from home hasn’t been a breeze for many with stacked shoe boxes to create makeshift standing desks and struggling internet connections, coupling this with childcare and home-schooling is almost unimaginable – but this has been the reality for many women.

An ONS survey found that women (67%) were significantly more likely to supervise home-schooling and childcare than men (52%) – with 53% of women suggested this was having a negative impact on wellbeing.

This has led to some mothers requesting part-time hours. Earlier this year, an article went viral where a boss refused a reduced hours request from a mother. However, the reason for denying such a request was because he acknowledged the disproportionate impact of COVID on women and saw it as his role to support his team and the employee, rather than cutting her hours to part-time. This is a good example of how managers and organisations can support women in work without resorting to reduced hours.

A greater proportion of women working part-time can have a negative impact on the gender pay gap because, as highlighted by ONS Gender Pay Gap in the UK: 2020, part-time roles have a lower average pay per hour than those working full-time.

Organisations can mitigate a widening gap by making sure they have the same rate of pay for both part-time and full-time roles.

Employees’ wellbeing is as important as ever. There should not be the same expectation of our work lives now, particularly in terms of time commitments, as pre-COVID. Employers should be understanding of new challenges and recognise employees’ hard work – even if it may not be in typical working hours.

Furlough and redundancy
Linked to the previous point, many working mothers have requested furlough as a way to manage childcare and home-schooling. However, such measures may not be the best approach. A study by Woodcock highlighted that many furloughed employees feel a loss of purpose, routine, connection to one’s firm and fear of redundancy.

The Women’s Budget Group, a not-for-profit organisation that tracks the impact of government policies on men and women, found that c.133,000 more women than men were furloughed between March and August 2020.

Organisations should seek to understand the reasons behind women’s furlough requests in order to provide support and help to eliminate the need for such measures due to childcare responsibilities.

Despite many organisations firefighting to stay afloat, it is important to continue providing support to furloughed employees by maintaining communications and sharing both updates and wellbeing initiatives.

In addition to furlough, there has been a disproportionate impact of redundancy on women during the pandemic. A survey conducted in July 2020 by the charity Pregnant then Screwed found that 46% of mothers and pregnant women who had been made redundant said that a lack of childcare provision played a role in their redundancy status.

Trades Union Congress found that one in four pregnant women faced discrimination at work, such as being singled out for redundancy or furlough.

There are significant concerns around the impact redundancies may have on entrenching traditional gender roles. Organisations should be clear that pregnancy and maternity is a protected characteristic under the 2010 Equality Act and therefore discrimination is unlawful.

Gender pay gap reporting
The requirement to report organisations’ (over 250 employees) gender pay gap began in 2017.

Whilst there have been gradual (but still small) improvements in headline numbers, reporting has made organisations more aware of the reasons behind their pay gaps. For example, we know that the pay gap is greater among all employees than those working full-time due to more women working in part-time jobs, which are typically lower paid.

However, due to the impact of the pandemic in 2020, organisations have not been required to report their gender pay gap and there is a six month enforcement extension for 2021. This means organisations have until October 4th to report their figures.

Whilst reporting was not mandatory in 2020, organisations should still report their gap in order to demonstrate a commitment to their female employees. A good employer will continue to do what is right in terms of transparent reporting and acting on the data – and conducting additional analyses into areas such as pay audits and equality impact assessments, as well as testing differences in the Employee Value Proposition for women compared to men.

Many regarded the suspension of reporting in 2020 a mistake due to the pandemic disproportionately affecting women in the workplace. This meant that keeping diversity and inclusion high on the agenda was more important than ever.

Only time will tell the full extent of the negative consequences for women during the pandemic.

Now what?
The impact of COVID on women in the workplace has the potential to erase decades of hard work (and gains) to promote equality between men and women.

Women should not have to sacrifice their career or mental health as a consequence of the pandemic – nor should employers expect them to.

Now is the time for organisations to listen, analyse, understand and act.

Get in touch today to understand how we can help improve the employee experience, particularly in terms of calculating your gender pay gap or conducting an equal pay audit.

Beth Willrich, Junior Consultant at QCG - March 2021