What is Workplace Equity?
Equity implies fairness and justice as per natural law or right. Under equity, every person has access to equal opportunities as per their needs and is treated fairly. Equity pays special attention to removing any barriers an individual may face at the workplace to ensure every group’s full participation.Equity aims to create transparent procedures and processes so that all employees understand what to expect in terms of consequences and rewards. To maintain workplace equity, organizations may have to offer different levels of support to different employees.Not to be confused with:
equality
By definition, equality is the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities.
Not to be confused with:
Why should workplaces choose equity over equality?
Equity works on the concept of positive discrimination. It focuses on giving more to those who need more. In the workplace, it is important to remember that while equity cannot be achieved through equality, equality can be achieved through equity.As an organization, those that strive for equality might not take into consideration the need for equity. In diverse organizations where employees come from various backgrounds, societal segments and have different qualifications, there may be a need to extend different treatment and benefits to different groups. The needs of a pregnant person with a whole family that is dependent on them are very different from an individual who has only themselves to look after. In order to ensure that such differences are factored in, organizations need to concentrate on equity over equality.