Rice Warner boosts contributions for female staff
Consulting and actuarial firm Rice Warner has increased super contributions for female employees by 2 per cent of salary as a way to address the gender gap in retirement savings.
It follows on from consultation Rice Warner undertook with the Australian Human Rights Commission to ensure the measures did not discriminate against male employees.
The package of benefits which were implemented at the start of this month, also includes flexible working conditions, paid parental leave, superannuation payments and long service leave accrued during parental leave, as well as an educational package.
Rice Warner deputy chief executive Melissa Fuller said her interest in finding a way to resolve the discrepancies between male and female retirement savings was sparked by the firm's research.
Underlying data and statistical evidence clearly showed that most females fell behind their male counterparts in their level of retirement savings, Fuller said.
A Rice Warner report released in November found that many challenges including lower pay, workforce patterns and a longer life span meant most women retired with approximately 50 per cent less superannuation than men.
"From the outset Rice Warner saw an opportunity to tackle a systemic issue that has a broad impact on Australian females and society, but which also directly impacts our own female employees," said Fuller.
The firm said the total female savings gap today was $383 billion, with 65-year-old females retiring with on average $40,000 less than 65-year-old men.
AUTHOR
Staff Writer
Money Management staff writers are writers who contribute to the website from time to time. If you would like to discuss the content contained within this article please contact us.
Recommended for you
Australia's largest super fund has announced its new chief financial officer as the fund prepares for its next phase of growth.
The industry super fund has appointed a new company secretary with extensive governance experience.
The fund has launched a new campaign after finding many older tradies have lacked confidence understanding entitlements and missed pension income.
Unions and the Opposition have raised fresh concerns about APRA and ASIC’s failures amid fallout from First Guardian and Shield.
TOP PERFORMING FUNDS
ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND
Fund name
3y(%)pa
1
DomaCom DFS Mortgage
211.16 3 y p.a(%)
2
Loftus Peak Global Disruption Fund Hedged
121.06 3 y p.a(%)
3
Global X 21Shares Bitcoin ETF
72.47 3 y p.a(%)
4
Paradice Australian Mid Cap A
69.09 3 y p.a(%)
5
Smarter Money Long-Short Credit Investor USD
68.96 3 y p.a(%)
