New analysis by the BBC suggests that the gender pay gap is getting worse - and critics say that making businesses report their inequality is not enough.
According to the results, four in ten private companies that have published their latest gender pay gap figures have reported wider gaps than last year. It was found that male employees - in every sector of business - were paid more.
Of the companies that have reported up to now, 74 per cent have a pay gap that favours men and only 14 per cent favour women. However, the utilities company Npower blamed their pay gap increase from 13% to 18% on the fact that more female than male employees are choosing to go for a salary sacrifice scheme.
Npower company spokesperson said:
“Npower implemented a cost reduction programme in 2017 which, along with the trend of more women than men taking advantage of salary sacrifice employee benefits designed to promote flexible working, had an impact on the pay gap.”
Car mechanics chain, Kwik Fit - in 2017 - had a negative gender pay gap of minus 15.2 per cent, showing that their female employees were paid more, but its 2018 figures show a 14 per cent median gender pay gap in favour of men. They attribute this to a number of senior female employees leaving the company.
A spokesperson for Kwik Fit said:
“We are keen to both promote from within the company as well as recruit more women to help redress this balance.”
Financial Services is one of the worst performing sectors, with several banks -including Lloyds Banking Group and RBS - reporting median gender pay gaps in excess of 30 per cent. According to the research, the construction industry is also showing a high median gender pay gap of around 26 per cent.
Martha McKinley - Solicitor at law firm Stephensons - remarked on the fact that the growth in the gaps at some companies signalled how challenging it is to deal with pay imbalances.
She said:
“The introduction of this type of reporting makes the issue more transparent and forces employers to sit up, take notice and hopefully take action. It will be interesting to see how the land lies after the April 4th reporting deadline.”
Rebecca Hilsenrath - Chief Executive to the Equality and Human Rights Commission - said:
“Transparency is brilliant and the first year of gender pay gap reporting has had an immense impact in raising awareness of workplace equality, but the truth is that transparency is not enough. Just reporting figures is not going to eliminate anyone’s pay gap.
Now that employers have met their legal duty to report their pay gaps, they should have worked out what has caused them and what they need to do to narrow them. We believe that it should be mandatory for employers to publish, alongside their pay gap data, action plans with specific targets and deadlines.”
Sam Smethers - Chief Executive of the Fawcett Society - agreed and told the Telegraph:
“Initial findings look worrying with 40 per cent of those who have already reported showing pay gaps widening not narrowing. Women will be wondering what is going on. We need to require employers to publish action plans that we can hold them accountable to.”
