Believe it or not – although it’s sadly fairly easy to believe – the current pay gap between men and women sits at 18.6% in Australia.
To look at this another way, women are only paid for 81.4% of the year. That means that as of today, October 27, the average woman effectively stops earning, while men continue.
To draw attention to this, and hopefully get the ball rolling on some actual, meaningful change, today is Equal Pay Day.
In recognition of the 18% pay gap between men and women, SumoSalad, purveyors of the green, leafy stuff, have decided offer all customers 18% off their salads on this most auspicious occasion.
We spoke to the company’s SumoSalad’s marketing manager Petra Orrenaus to find out more.
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Pedestrian.TV: Why have SumoSalad decided to jump on board with Equal Pay Day?
Petra Orrenaus: While we can’t take credit for Equal Pay Day, we decided this was a great way to show our support. It’s really important for me, as a woman with three daughters, to stand up and make a bit of a difference for everyone. It’s a shame that we should still have to do that in 2015, and we don’t just need equal pay for men and women, we need to go beyond that and have equal representation on corporate boards, but that’s just the situation we’re in, and change takes time.
Do Sumo Salad pay equally?
We try – we have franchise stores, so I can’t say that everyone is, but you need to start standing up and pointing these things out, raising money for a good cause.
A lot of people are probably already asking if the discount is for men and women?
Yes, a lot of people have asked already on Twitter and Facebook, and it’s not just for women, everyone can head in. I think that everyone who’s in a power position should have the chance to show their support, so we’re open for men and women to take this offer on and support equal pay.
How do people claim the discount?
Just mention Equal Pay Day to anyone in our store team.
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So there you have it. If you’re a fan of shovelling salad in your face and recognising worthy causes, your venn diagrams just overlapped hard. Visit SumoSalad for more info.
