UK employers publish gender pay gaps. What have they found out so far?

All employers with more than 250 employees in the United Kingdom have a legal obligation to disclose the differences in the wages of their female and male employees by 4 April 2018. The data should be posted on the employers' websites, and also on an official government website. More than a thousand of the approximately 9,000 employers concerned have already disclosed their numbers.

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The gender pay gap is the difference between the average wages of men and women in a company (not the difference in wages of male and female employees in the same position, which has already been illegal for decades).

The following figures are required:

  • The median gender pay gap (comparisons of male and female employees' pay with mid-level pay in the company),
  • The average gender pay gap (division of the total amount of pay by the number of employees),
  • The median gender bonus pay gap,
  • The average gender bonus pay gap,
  • The representation of men and women receiving bonuses,
  • The representation of men and women in four groups of the company's pay structure.

Where are the differences?

According to the official Gender pay gap reporting website, the biggest gender pay gap in favor of men has so far been reported by Phase Eight, a ladies fashion chain, where women are paid 64.8% less than men. Its CEO Benjamin Barnett explains these figures by the fact that while mainly women work in the fashion shops, the representation of men and women is more balanced at the company's headquarters. If he compares the wages of men and women working in the same positions, there are no inequalities.

The situation in Easyjet airlines where men earn 52% more than women is similar. The company argues that this is due to the higher salaries of pilots, who are mostly men. However, the company has made a commitment that one of every five newly hired pilots will always be a woman by 2020.

Other companies where the average male wages significantly exceed the average female wages are in the field of ​​finance. These include, for example, Virgin Money (32.5% difference) or PriceWaterhouseCoopers (33.1% difference).

There are nearly no salary differences between men and women are in the British Army (0.9% difference) or in the British Museum in London (0%).

On the other hand, the differences in favor of women were reported by the Cambridgeshire Police (12.9% difference) and the food, bodycare and household products producer Unilever UK which pays an average of 8.8% more to women compared to men.

After 4th April 2018, employers with a gender pay gap will be asked to publish an action plan to address this issue.

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Article source HRreview - UK’s leading HR news resource
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