Three out of four employers pay their male staff more on average than their female staff
All 10,000 UK employers that the Government has identified as having over 250 workers have now published their gender pay gap data which show that more than three out of four in scope UK companies pay their male staff more on average than their female staff, more than half give higher bonuses to men, on average, than women, and over 80% have more women in their lowest paid positions than in their highest paid positions.
The Government Equalities Office published on 1 August a new ‘What Works’ guidance for companies to help them improve the recruitment and progression of women and close their gender pay gap. This evidence-based report covers
- The most effective actions
- Actions showing promise
- Actions with mixed results
The most effective actions
- Include multiple women in shortlists
- Use skill-based assessment tasks in recruitment
- Use structured interviews for recruitment and promotion
- Encourage salary negotiation by showing salary ranges
- Introduce transparency to promotion, pay and reward processes
- Appoint diversity managers who
- Have a senior/executive role within the organisation
- Have visibility of internal data
- Be in the position to ask for more
- Empowered to develop and implement diversity strategies and policies
Actions that are showing “promise” include
- Improve workplace flexibility for men and women
- Encourage uptake of shared parental leave
- Recruit returners
- Offer mentoring and sponsorship
- Offer networking programmes
- Set internal targets
Minister for Women and Equalities, Penny Mordaunt, said:
It is appalling that in the twenty-first century there is still a big difference between the average earnings of men and women.
While I am encouraged that over 10,000 employers have published their data, these figures set out in real terms for the first time some of the challenges and the scale of this issue.
We need to take action to ensure businesses know how they can make use of their best talent and make their gender pay gaps a thing of the past.
