It’s simple: Pay inequity anywhere is unacceptable

According to the latest data from Equal Pay Today, women in the U.S. earn 83 cents for every dollar a man does. Women essentially work, on average, approximately 15 months to earn what men earn in 12 months to do the same job. That’s why March 15 marks Equal Pay Day, a national day of awareness to illustrate the gap between wages.

For newly formed biotech companies, pay equity should be expected from Day One. Throughout our 14-plus years as a successful biotech company committed to putting forward solutions for rare, autoimmune and severe inflammatory diseases, I have regularly reviewed pay among our employees to make sure there were not outliers, regardless of gender or ethnicity. Equal pay is simply equal pay for equal work and doing the right thing from the beginning should be the expectation.

Commitment to diversity, inclusion, equity and allyship and a culture built around those principles, starts at the top. So today, I am proud to share ways each of us can help create a more equitable workplace. Here are five actions you can take immediately to advocate for equity where you work:

1.?????Educate yourself about your industry and profession. Know what the market value is for the role you have now and the roles you might seek in the future.?

2.?????Review and be a steward of your company’s business practices. Help to shape and advocate for programs, policies and infrastructure that support equity.

3.?????Get personally involved in a business resource group or an employee advocacy group at your company. This is a good way to learn more about the company culture and find other advocates who can help bring inclusion to fruition across all aspects of the organization.

4.?????Understand your company’s policies and infrastructure related to maintaining an equitable workplace. These could include, among others, equal parental-leave policies and caregiving resources, on-site daycare services, career development and mentoring programs specific to gender, experience level and ethnicity, where applicable. These all add up to creating equity in the workplace.

5.?????Finally, consider learning about pay equity studies from a trusted third-party expert. Without an independent study, it’s very difficult to know if you have pay inequities within your organization. Outside experts can bring credibility and neutrality to the way data are analyzed. If you are unsure if your company has done a study like this, contact your business resource group, legal or HR department.

At Horizon Therapeutics, we undertook our first independent third-party pay equity study in 2019, then did another in 2021. Both studies showed that at Horizon, we have pay equity across our company, meaning employees are paid equally for equal work. But we know our work is not done, which is why we’ve committed to bi-annual studies. You can read more here about our commitment to pay equity.

Pay equity benefits everyone. As leaders and employees, we just need to have the courage to push against the inertia to create permanent and lasting change.