EQUAL PAY: THE LOWDOWN

Now unless you’ve been hiding under a very large rock for the last few weeks (and we wouldn’t blame you either, did someone say rain clouds? ☁ ) you’ll of either seen or heard about the equal pay uproar that’s been headlining the news almost every day, so here’s a little lowdown on what’s really happening!

What’s happening?

In 2017 when Theresa May gave her first speech at number 10 Downing St, in those short four minutes one of the injustices she was keen to highlight was prioritising and addressing the imbalance when it boils down to our countries Gender Pay Gap. Leaning towards the fact that in today’s society, men are more likely to get paid more than women whilst working within the same business/sector – and that this isn’t a representation of the gender equal world we should be living in. So now action is being taken into establishing and making public this year’s data so that we can get this gap gone once and for all!

The Facts

• Any business with over 250 employees was summoned to submit their gender pay figures back to the government by the 4th April 2018.
• More than 10,000 firms have published gender pay data to the Government Equality Offices.
• Currently, more than 8 out of 10 companies pay men more than women
• Data shows that in 1997 the full-time gender pay gap was calculated at 17.4%, in comparison with today’s average which is worked out to be 14.1%.
• It’s not a comparison against whether a man/woman gets paid more for the same role (as that could get incredibly complex!) it’s more about establishing equality within the workplace.

What happens now?

From the government side of things, frustratingly they’ll be no direct punishment to companies with big or apparent pay differences between men and women at present. One big positive is that these stats will be published publicly for all to see, so we urge all you hard-working boss babes out there to take this as your time to speak out. We’ve compiled a couple of next steps that should help do just that below.

 1. TALK Get together and make a plan
If the numbers have rolled in and you’re sensing that somethings not right when it comes to the comparable figures, the first step is to talk. Speak to other women in the office, pull together a meeting and use it as an opportunity to discuss and raise concerns. Work together on creating a plan of how to move forward, the more voices the better!

2. RESEARCH Pull together some facts
Have a more in-depth read of your company’s gender pay report and pull together figures that can back up any factors you’d want to make in a discussion. This’ll give some strength to your points and show that you’ve done your research. (https://gender-pay-gap.service.gov.uk/Viewing/search-results)

 3.SUGGEST Suggest a promotion/pay rise

Do your research and use this as your opportunity to get yourself a promotion/pay-rise. Looking at similar roles to yours in other businesses might be a good place to start, see what the salary benchmarks are and work at how you can present this as one of many factors to why you deserve that raise!

Want more info? Read more below

https://gender-pay-gap.service.gov.uk/public/assets/pdf/gender-pay-gap-explained.pdf

https://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/a19725492/ways-to-fix-the-wage-gap/