Pay gap BS

[user1471605190]

I work in an office in a male-dominated industry and have done for the past 6 years. The company released the Gender Pay Gap results and long story short, males are paid 50% more than females in the lowest paid jobs (which is where i'm probably sat). The calculation for fixed hourly rate of pay identifies males are paid on average 35% more than females per hour (mean average) and 28% more per hour (median). We made it into an article in the local paper for topping the chart of biggest gaps in the county but this is justified because 'more males have higher paid roles, there are more part time female staff than male and there's more females in roles which don't get a bonus.'

HR advised workshops would be put on to discuss and understand the stats they gave us and after weeks of hearing nothing, I emailed them again and was told that they hadn't actually planned any work shop because they didn't know what interest they would get but told me they are now sorting one for June. I believe they absolutely were not going to bother but after rounding up some of the ladies in my area of the business to get on at them they now are. Frustratingly, HR is made up of all women so I would have hoped they were more on board. Getting them to actually put together a workshop is one thing but what should I expect to get out of this? What should I be doing or asking of management to sort this? I want to change this for female colleagues. HELP!

Sounds like you deserve some OP

I would expect someone appropriately senior to be responsible for addressing the pay gap issue.

I'd like to see investigations into why there are more men in higher paid roles, why there are more part time female staff and why there are more women in roles that don't attract a bonus. That's the whole point of this legislation imo. To look at the structural reasons why the gap exists, and to see what steps companies can take to address them.

So, is the workplace hostile towards women? Is the way pay is negotiated (if applicable) causing an inequality, and why. Why aren't more women being hired/promoted for roles that attract a bonus? Have they reviewed their recruitment and internal promotion processes to look for reasons?

Etc etc. Basically a proper investigation rather than just shrugging their shoulders and saying that's the way it is.

Are there other similar companies who have a much smaller gap? That could be useful for comparison.

Hi OP,
I've fought an equal pay claim relatively recently - or rather, my union did on my behalf.

So - first question - are you in a union? If not, join, and get as many of your female colleagues as possible to join ASAP. Equal pay claims require considerable legal expertise to fight, and that's expensive. That's why trade unions have legal funds.

Also, start talking to your male colleagues - to fight an equal pay claim you will need "comparators" i.e. men doing the same job or work of equal value, who are prepared to allow their pay details to be used for comparison purposes.

As a first step, one thing you can probably do is write to your CEO and the head of HR saying you note that there is a gender pay gap. Ask them (as Assasinated says) to comment on this - how do the figures break down, what do they intend to do to address the problem now that they know it's there.

(Cynically at this point I expect you will be fobbed off - "different roles... different levels of seniority... keeping the overall pay bill down to keep the company competitive... yadda yadda." This is why you need trade union support.)

Good luck, and

Marking for later

I think all the advice above is spot on re the questions you should ask and expect the business to address. As well as investigating the causes of inequality, I would ask what concrete steps they are taking to address the issue as I would expect the next equal pay report to show a closing gap.

Cynically though, I doubt that you will get the answers you're looking for and the only real option you have is to vote with your feet.

Fermrats said,
"So - first question - are you in a union? If not, join, and get as many of your female colleagues as possible to join ASAP. Equal pay claims require considerable legal expertise to fight, and that's expensive. That's why trade unions have legal funds."

Just one point...
GMB gender pay gap.......36%

Children - you are of course absolutely right about the GMB pay gap. And more generally, unions often (not always) turn out to have feet of clay on women's issues (cf some of the male trade unionists in Made in Dagenham - it would be nice to think that generation of dinosaurs has gone now, but unfortunately this isn't the case across the board).

That said, from a practical point of view, it remains the case that you are far more likely to be able to bring an equal pay claim effectively with a union behind you to pick up the (open-ended) legal fees than if you try to do it yourself.