It has been reported that almost eight in ten organisations now pay men more than women; with technology giants Apple, being one of the few who stand out as paying their ‘high-flying’ under 30 female staff, more than the men. With this gap becoming more prevalent and companies being ‘called out’ for their choice to pay men more than women, how does this affect the HR world?
In the UK we have the fifth largest pay gap in Europe, so as of April 2018, UK companies with 250 or more employees will have to publish their gender pay gap data. Public, private and voluntary sector firms are now all required to disclose their average pay for men and women, including bonuses. Companies are also given the opportunity to provide a discussion and explanation as to why their pay scales vary between the genders.
Reflecting on this data will allow companies to better gauge where they stand with other companies in their field and help employees to understand if their wages reflect the average, possible resulting in more asking for a pay rise.
Regional pay gaps
It is not a great surprise that employees around the country have varying pay scales; sectors such as nursing see only a 9% difference throughout the UK, whereas roles such as web development vary by £50,000 across regions. The lowest proportion of difference is in London and the South East, at an average of 18 per cent.
The Gender Pay Gap in HR
On average, male managers in HR earn £4,469 more than their female peers, this includes salary and bonuses, as well as perks such as car allowance and commission. Saying that, HR’s gender pay gap is considerably lower than it is across all other UK businesses.
The CIPD has produced a report of it’s own gender pay gap and found it is being driven by the following factors: The CIPD has a predominantly female workforce, made up of 332 individuals, 69 percent female and 31 percent male. There are more women than men at every level of the business, yet over half of female employees, are in the lower and lower middle pay quartiles. Simple changes, such as the introduction of a female chief executive, would see this gap drop by 5%.
Pay gap overview
The gender pay gap is particularly high in jobs within a finance role, with male managers earning 33.9% more than female peers, equating to an average salary difference of more than £18,000.
Only 77 out of 7,850 eligible employers have so far fulfilled their obligations regarding the gender pay gap.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) says it will approach employers informally at first, but businesses could ultimately face “unlimited fines and convictions,” but there has been no formal decision as to whether this will come into force. However, the UK government says it will publish sector-specific league tables, highlighting companies who fail to address their pay differences between men and women.
Rebecca joined the HRreview editorial team in January 2016. After graduating from the University of Sheffield Hallam in 2013 with a BA in English Literature, Rebecca has spent five years working in print and online journalism in Manchester and London. In the past she has been part of the editorial teams at Sleeper and Dezeen and has founded her own arts collective.
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