Australian employers would be banned from imposing "salary secrecy" on their staff under a new plan designed to help close the growing pay gap between men and women.
A bill to be introduced to parliament by the Greens next month aims to put an end to so-called "gag clauses" that prevent private sector employees telling other people what they earn.
The bill would ensure all employees are allowed to talk about their pay without fear of retaliation from their bosses. All employers covered by the Commonwealth's industrial relations powers would be prohibited from inserting gag clauses into new contracts or enforcing existing ones.
Greens spokesman for women Larissa Waters said the bill was a practical step towards ending the gender pay gap.
"The gender pay gap is worst where pay is kept secret and women often find out they are being paid less than their male colleagues after years on the job," she said.
The gender pay gap is currently at a 20-year high of 18.8 per cent, according to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency. It means that, on average, women earn $298.10 a week less than men. Put another way, they have to work an extra 66 days a year to take home the same amount as a man.
The pay gap in the public sector, where workers are allowed to talk about their pay, is 12.3 per cent, while the gap in the private sector - which is more secretive - is 22.4 per cent.
Ten years ago the overall national gender pay gap was less than 15 per cent. The private sector pay gap has widened about 2 per cent in just the past two years.
A 2009 study by Australian and US academics found around 50 per cent of organisations at least discourage employees from sharing pay information, and some are prepared to dismiss or punish those who do.
The US and Britain have both recently introduced new measures designed to increase pay transparency.
Senator Waters said women were particularly disadvantaged when pay was set by non-award individual arrangement, which is the main method in corporate Australia.
"Pay secrecy can help hide discrimination, unconscious bias and bad decision making, where two people are paid differently for doing the same job," Senator Waters said. "Some people will still prefer to keep their pay private, but it's important to make sure that workers have a choice."
