A survey by the Fawcett Society has found that over seven in ten female voters in Red Wall constituencies were in favour of legislation being introduced to entitle women to know what their male colleagues are paid and would be more likely to vote for a party that promised to introduce this right.
The gender pay gap persists despite legislation having been in place since 1970 making it unlawful to pay men more than women (and vice versa) for the same or a similar role. The trend was made worse through the pandemic with women more likely to be furloughed to undertake childcare responsibilities than male colleagues.
The lack of transparency in salaries, it is argued, takes in pre-existing pay discrepancies as multiple investigations have shown that men are more bullish in their pay demands and, once paid more in their initial salary, see that compounded by future pay rises meaning female staff never catch up.
Currently only employers with 250 or more employee have to publish their gender pay gap online. Private businesses must use 5 April as their ‘snapshot date’ and no later than 4 April the following year must publish gender pay gap data including mean and median salaries and bonuses for men and women and also how many men and women fall into each pay quartile. It is evident from this Fawcett Society survey that the gender pay gap remains a real issue for many women and further steps will need to be taken to help close the gender pay gap more swiftly.
If you have any queries relating to the gender pay gap please contact our specialist Employment Team on 0345 646 0406 or fill in our online enquiry form and a member of our Team will be in touch.