The commitment, which is slated to be reviewed after a span of two years, intends to address the persistent issue of financial disparities that influence individuals, especially women, who briefly step away from their careers for parental responsibilities. This comes on the heels of the latest findings provided by the Workplace Gender Equity Agency (WGEA) along with data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), which spotlight the enduring gender pay gap.
TelstraSuper's analyzed data indicates that if an employee at the age of 32 specializes into a three-day work week following parental leave, the additional two years of full-time equivalent SG contributions would potentially accumulate an extra $42,000 by the time of retirement.
Within the 2019-2020 fiscal year, the ABS recorded a discernable difference in median superannuation savings; women aged 65 and over had $168,000 whereas their male counterparts had $208,200. Addressing this, TelstraSuper's CEO and WGEA pay equity ambassador, Chris Davies, acknowledges the multifaceted roots of the super gender gap which stem from factors like the overall gender pay discrepancy, the predominance of unpaid care duties, a tilt towards part-time employment and variances in financial awareness.
Davies emphasizes the ongoing necessity for comprehensive solutions that span beyond jurisdictional efforts to mend this gap. Yet, he further insists that employers possess the agency to significantly alter the retirement trajectory of their workforce. With educating measures parallel to empowerment, TelstraSuper is aiming to forge a paradigm where all employees who take a hiatus for parental responsibilities can return to a work arrangement that does not penalize their long-term financial wellbeing.
Though definitively abolishing the super gender disparity may be intricate, TelstraSuper's policy represents a significant stride in celebrate employees' parental stages, while safeguarding their fiscal futures. Recognizing the conception that early and proactive interventions can harness the compounding power of investments, TelstraSuper is not only contributing to individual employees' retirements but is also setting an unconventional precedent for financial inclusivity in the workplace.
