Starting the Conversation

BEST PRACTICES FOR INVITING YOUR ORGANIZATION TO CONSIDER PAY EQUITY

Bring the Reform Pay Equity Initiative to the attention of your clergy, supervisor, board, president, and/or staff. Invite them to study some of the resources in the toolkit. Perhaps you can plan as a community to mark Equal Pay Day with sermons, study, and board education. If you have a particular search process coming up, ask if your congregation/organization can use the RPEI resources throughout the hiring process. Once your organization is on board, work with your leadership and begin educating your community about the wage gap in general.

BEST PRACTICES FOR ADDRESSING PAY EQUITY WITH YOUR HIRING COMMITTEE

Read over the Reform Pay Equity Initiative toolkit to ensure that you are promoting ethical employment. You might start a conversation with your hiring committee: “I know we are going to be hiring a new employee; let’s look over these resources to make sure we follow Jewish ideals and best ethical practices.”

If you are concerned that female employees are not equitably paid, start the conversation: “I have been reading about the RPEI. This is a serious social justice issue. I think our community should do a thorough salary review to ensure that we are not contributing to the wage gap. The Initiative provides resources and data to help us do this easily.”

Although your organization may not have a dedicated hiring committee, you can still identify the hiring stakeholders. These may be Jewish professionals and/or lay leaders. Jewish professionals have the potential to be both employees and employers. They, along with their members, are part of the employer stakeholders group and should promote Jewish ethical values in hiring.