Kiwi CEO: no equal pay for women because “once a month they have sick problems”

Alasdair Thompson of the Employers & Manufacturers Association (Northern) in New Zealand is unapologetic about his recent comments on why women should not receive equal pay. In fact, he’s a bit peeved at the media and the way his perfectly-clear words were taken.

But during the 22-minute segment, Mr. Thompson did not apologize for the content of his comments. He apologizes only for the offence it has caused, but overall he sticks to his guns in this video.

“Men and women are fortunately different,” he said. “Women have babies. Women take leave when they have their babies.”

He then contends that this makes it harder for women to return to the work force. (To be fair, many women would agree with this.) But what he doesn’t do is suggest that maybe employers ought to adjust the ways in which an employee’s productivity is measured. Is the number of sick days the only productivity marker out there?

Read the whole thing and listen to the interview.  Adding to the ridiculousness of Mr. Thompson’s claim is that he has little or nothing in the way of facts to back him up.

Then he offers this nugget: “Women take more sick leave in general. I know it’s an awful thing to say but it’s true.”

When asked how he knows this, he says the woman who answers the phone and notes why people are taking sick days has told him that some women admit they are not coming to work because they are on their periods.

When pressed for numbers, he stumbles.

Fortunately, 3 News does the research for him: “This afternoon the State Services Commission released statistics that show on average, men in New Zealand take 6.8 sick days a year, while women take 8.4.

“But there is no evidence to suggest menstruation is the cause.”