It seems particularly apt to talk today about the ‘gender pay gap’ as it was Equal Pay Day last Friday!
And ironically, back in 1959, a suitably titled play, ‘The Girls Against The Boys’ closed its doors for the last time. With cast members including Dick Van Dyke, this theatre production only managed to present 16 performances at the Alvin Theatre in New York.
You might ask yourself what is the significance of November 10th? Simply put, its the date when women effectively begin to work for ‘free’ and will continue to work for free for the remainder of the year – a total of 51 working day.
Many might argue that the gender pay gap is not actually a real thing. However, according to the World Economic Forum, there is not one country in the entire world where a women is paid as much as a man doing an equal job! Consistently, data shows that women are only paid around 85% of an equivalent role undertaken by a man, having been 14.1% last year and in 2015 and 2014 as well. If this trend continues, it will take over half a century to close the gap. This means that any woman starting in the world of employment today will never see pay equality either!
In a bid to speed up this issue, it will now be a requirement for those companies who employ more than 250 employees to submit details of their pay structure and indeed salary differentials paid between their male and female employees. A written and signed statement will also be required, confirming the accuracy of the information that they have submitted, which along with the figures must be published on the employers own website and must be accessible for both employees and the public to view for a minimum of three years. This information must also be uploaded to the government’s gender pay gap reporting service and the public will have access to view the submitted data, searching by fields such as industrial sector.
If your company is of a size that will be required to submit data to the gender pay gap report and you believe that your company may benefit from some initial assistance, please do not hesitate to get in contact to discuss your requirements further. Alternatively, you may find a conversation beneficial as to how best to start closing the pay gap in your company?
Please call 0121 516 0299 or email info@cloverhr.co.uk in total confidence.
