Known as Mywage in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi, and Meusalario in Angola and Mocambique, the websites feature content about wages, working conditions, labour standards and other work-related topics with strong gender emphasis in much of the content. Each site also hosts various web tools which provide information on occupation-specific wages, as well as checks relating to work/partner balance, minimum wages and the current economic crisis.
Each staffed by local journalists, the websites provide original and relevant content to web-users across Southern Africa.
“There is a definite need for this sort of information in my country. We look at what people want to know, in relation to the workplace, and we supply it,” says Sanday Chongo Kabange, web manager of Mywage Zambia. “We go out and speak to people, and we follow what is happening in the labour market.”
The websites also feature interviews with workers in different sectors, from nurses to politicians. Additional sections include the VIP Paycheck, which provides salary information on anybody from David Beckham to Robert Mugabe, the DecentWorkCheck, and the PartnerCheck, which provides possible outcomes with a partner.
Mywage in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi appears in English, and can be accessed through the portal site, www.mywage.org or individually. Meusalario in Angola and Mozambique appears in Portuguese and can be accessed through the portal site www.meusalario.org or individually.
Mywage/Meusalario is part of the international Wage Indicator Foundation, a non-profit organisation dedicated to labour market transparency, which provides free and accurate wage and wage related information. Founded in Holland, the web-based initiative now operates in 46 countries using 55 national websites. Overall, the sites reach between one and two million users per month. These include sites in the USA, the UK, India, Argentina, Brazil, Germany, France and Argentina. All research and data are supplied by co-founder the Amsterdam Institute of Advanced Labour Studies at the University of Amsterdam. In South Africa, Mywage is partnered with the Labour Research Service.
“Through sites such as Mywage, we are able to empower users with free, accurate information concerning their salaries,” says Paulien Osse, director of WageIndicator. “Wage transparency is an important tool for employees, as well as employers. Through the data we collect, we are also able to compile current reports on issues such as decent work and minimum wages.”
For more information, go to www.mywage.org.
Or:
www.mywage.co.za (South Africa)
www.mwage.org/zambia
www.mywage.org/zimbabwe
www.mywage.org/malawi
www.mywage.org/namibia
www.mywage.org/botswana
www.meusalario.org
www.meusalario.org/mocambique
www.meusalario.org/angola
