Philip Morris Malaysia Sdn Bhd, a country affiliate of Philip Morris International, is the first firm in the country to obtain the Equal Salary certification from the Equal Salary Foundation.

The Equal Salary certification is a process that allows the cigarette-maker company to verify and communicate that they pay their female and male employees equally for the same job or for a job of the same value. The certification validated that Philip Morris paid both male and female employees equally for equivalent work. The process was also helping to focus company attention on the broader issue of gender equality in the workplace, New Straits Times reports.

Commenting on the recognition, managing director Kang Tae Koo said the firm’s success as a company depended on a talented and diverse workforce, where individuals enjoy opportunities to learn, grow and prosper in their career. “This means providing fair and equal remuneration for men and women for equivalent work, and at PMM our values and principles call for nothing less,” he said.

“For our employees, the firm’s achievement as the first Equal-Salary certified company in Malaysia makes us an employer of choice committed to equality and to fostering an inclusive and dynamic workforce,” he added.

Alongside the quantitative comparison of salary data, the Equal Salary certification methodology involves a qualitative audit of management commitment to equal pay principles, of employee perception of that commitment and of Human Resource policies and practices to identify any potential gender blind spots, and recommends actions to mitigate them.

The certification further helps identify areas for improvement and supports efforts to address the broader challenge of closing any gender talent gaps. This includes introducing flexible working arrangements and addressing gender bias across the employee journey.

Malaysia has reached many important milestones towards gender parity across education and health. The Global Gender Gap Report 2018 ranked Malaysia at 101 out of 149 countries and highlighted that gender gaps in terms of labour force participation and salary equality still exist within the country.

Read also: The HR & Learning Show