Pay equity is a matter of simple fairness. Equal Pay is a Basic Human Right. Yet, the gender pay gap in South Africa remains at a stubborn rate of between 23% and 35%, despite legislation aimed at addressing the race and gender pay gap. 

A significant underlying factor that contributes to the pay gap is the employer’s practice of relying on an employee’s salary history to determine their new salary. Payslip and salary history requests are a fairly common but a highly unfair practice during the hiring process in South Africa. Using past salary to calculate salary reinforces the pay gap and group disadvantage. Given South Africa’s history of pay discrimination across racial and gender lines, this practice has continued to perpetuate pay gaps for black people, women and people with disabilities.

This was at the heart of a case that I brought to the Labour Court and Constitutional Court respectively. Several years ago, I took up the legal cudgels after discovering that my white counterpart was earning R4,000 a month more than me. The company sought to justify the differentiation on the basis that my white colleague earned more in her previous employment than me, hence the reason for the differentiation was not race but historical pay.

Informed by my own personal experience, I have taken up this cause to craft this petition calling for the practice of requesting payslips and salary history to be banned! I will be presenting this petition to Parliament of South Africa (Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour).

An appropriately-qualified candidate that has value to the employer should be paid according to their value and skills. Their previous or current salary shouldn’t be a factor.

When I first approached my former employer to understand the basis for the differentiation, the company repeatedly sought to justify the differentiation on the basis of skills and qualifications. This defense was maintained throughout the pre-arbitration phase, however, at arbitration, the company performed a U-turn.

There, the company sought to justify the differentiation on the basis that my white colleague earned more in her previous employment than me, hence the reason for the differentiation was not race but historical pay.

At its core the underlying dispute was about equal pay for work of equal value. It raised the following question: is it unfair discrimination for an employer to pay two employees working in the same position differently, because one employee earned more than the other in their previous job? The answer is NO!

Please support my petition calling for the practice of requesting payslips and salary history to be banned!