Latinas, Hispanic Businesses Can Lead the Way to Pay Equity
The stark realities of unequal pay for Latinas
As Women’s History Month reaches its final week, we approach another day with symbolic significance: Equal Pay Day. In 2025, March 25 is the day where we recognize how far into the year women must work to earn the salaries men earned the previous year. For every $1.00 paid to non-Hispanic White men:- Asian-American women are paid $0.94,
- White women are paid $0.80,
- Black women are paid $0.66,
- Native women are paid $0.58,
- and Latinas are paid $0.58.
Hispanic small business owners have a unique perspective and a special role to play for Latinas
Pay gaps have a disproportionate effect on the Latino community, making it imperative for us to confront these disparities with our inherent authenticity and entrepreneurial spirit. By adopting equal pay practices, Hispanic-owned businesses will grow, and eliminating pay gaps will strengthen the economy by empowering families to build wealth that they can in turn re-invest. There are at least four additional highly pragmatic reasons you should work to eliminate pay gaps for women in your small business or startup:- Evening the playing field for women in your business will facilitate talent acquisition and improve retention of employees, reducing costs associated with recruiting and turnover.
- Your brand reputation and customer loyalty will improve as your customers see your commitment to equal pay.
- Gender-diverse teams make better business decisions and companies with more women in leadership have higher returns.
- Discrimination cases are expensive to settle; investing in equal pay is a smart legal risk mitigation strategy.
Practical steps for your business to take
It might feel like an insurmountable feat, especially in light of the very slow progress when we look at trends in the aggregate. But there are some concrete steps you can take: A pay audit will help you understand existing trends. Examine pay data for all your employees, including their base pay plus any bonuses or benefits. If the audit surfaces problematic gaps (which might be related to gender, but could be related to other variables), you’ll need to be prepared to address them, so allocate budget ahead for any possible necessary corrections. Implementing transparent pay practices is another essential step. If you don’t already have them, create clear compensation criteria which take into consideration experience, education, skills, and responsibilities. Then make this information available, to help both prospective and current employees understand their own standing. Certain states have passed pay transparency laws, requiring employers to disclose salary ranges in job postings or when requested. Take a look at your existing criteria for and approaches to hiring and promotion. There are many steps you can take to make job descriptions less biased, including by using neutral language (replace “rockstar” with “experienced”, for example) and by focusing on essential requirements (avoid “nice-to-have” qualifications that could discourage qualified candidates that don’t meet 100% of what’s listed on the job description). Promotion policies can likewise be improved by ensuring criteria are measurable and clear, by implementing a structured review process, and by establishing regularity in promotion cycles. Offering flexible work arrangements is a low-cost method that can go a long way in closing gender pay gaps. Consider which roles can have hybrid work arrangements or a schedule that aligns better with the needs of your employees (transportation schedule, school drop-off/pick-up schedule, etc.). Once you have implemented changes, commit to regularly examining your data, to measure the impact of your changes over time.Take it one step at a time
If doing all of the above feels daunting, then take it one step at a time. Make the changes that you can in the places you can make them, and remember that every small step takes you in the right direction. Maybe your first step is examining whether signaling more clearly in job descriptions your flexible work arrangements results in bigger pools of applicants. Or maybe you start by formulating clearer criteria for promotion, and later measure the impact this has on the members of your team. If we all strive for equal pay, our commitment will make a meaningful difference.Related content:
Equal Pay, a Dream Latinas Are Still Chasing
Top Five Reasons Why Pay Differentiation Matters
How Much Are You Worth…The Pay Disparity Between Men and Women in the Workplace
