The gender pay gap has been big news over recent months, and at our London recruitment agency, we’ve been keeping a close eye on the findings. For the first time in history, businesses with more than 250 employees were required to publish information on pay differences between their male and female staff. Today, we’ll look at what the results of the gender pay gap mean for you, and what you can do as an employee.
What did the gender pay gap results find?
Over 10,000 businesses (including public sector and charities) published results—and a staggering 78% of these pay men more than women. Only 14% pay women more than men, with 8% paying the same to both men and women. It’s important to remember that the gender pay gap isn’t the same as “equal pay”, as it’s been illegal to pay men and women differently for doing the same job since 1970.
What the gender pay gap illustrates is the difference between male and female salaries as a result of other factors, such as working patterns and types of roles. The results demonstrated that women make up most part-time roles, while most senior roles (which are the highest-paying) are filled by men. The results also showed that men are paid bigger bonuses than women.
Other findings included the sectors where the gender pay gap is the biggest, such as construction, finance, and education. The sectors where the gap was the smallest include arts, entertainment, accommodation, health, and food. Whether you work in receptionist roles in the finance sector or PA jobs in the creative industries, the gender pay gap may be affecting you.
What can you do as an employee?
Find out the figures
The first thing to do is find out how your employer is paying its staff. If your organisation employs more than 250 people, you can now see exactly how they pay men and women using the online calculator on the BBC website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43470827). Plus, 238 companies with less than 250 staff voluntarily released the information. If you find that your company is one of those paying men more than women, this is likely to be disappointing and even frustrating for you. But this doesn’t mean you can’t do anything about it.
Check your company’s response
Next, see whether your company has published a response to the gender pay gap findings. Their response might detail the reasons for any gender pay gap in the company and what they’re doing to address the issues. However, their response shouldn’t just be that “only men have applied for senior roles” or “only women want the part-time roles”. It should be a genuine attempt to improve the situation—if it’s not, or if they haven’t published a result at all, don’t be afraid to ask what they’re doing to resolve the problem.
Join a union
Another thing you can do is join a union, as they will help you and other employees fight for fairer pay. If there’s no union at your company or available to you, this doesn’t mean you can’t form a group with your colleagues to take your concerns forward. Talk to other staff about the issues and talk to your managers. It’s a lot easier to raise issues about difficult subjects when you’re not alone, so having a group of people can help you take the issue to senior management.
If you’ve decided it’s time to seek a new job, feel free to get in touch with the team at Love Success PA recruitment agency today. We can find you a role that rewards your skills and experience—whether it’s a top London PA job, an office manager role, or a receptionist opportunity.
Love Success is a leading PA and secretarial recruitment agency in London.
Our recruiters can help you find secretarial jobs, office support jobs, and top PA jobs in London.
View our latest job opportunities here
PA Jobs l Executive Assistant Jobs l Office Support Jobs l Top PA Jobs
Secretarial Jobs l Marketing & PR Jobs l HR Jobs l Finance Jobs