Gender Pay Gap – a social issue???

The arrival of the results of the Gender Pay Gap Reporting has caused quite a stir this week, as to be expected, and many people are debating about whether or not the statistics shared are a concern or not for the UK workforce, with some HUGE differences of opinion.

Whilst the figures in isolation appear concerning, it is important to note here that many appear to be confusing Gender Pay Gap with Gender Equality – when the two are indeed very distinct and different things. Here are some answers to your potential Gender Pay Gap questions.

What is Gender Pay Gap Reporting?

Gender pay reporting legislation requires that all employers with 250 or more employees publish statutory calculations on an annual basis showing how large the pay gap is between their male and female employees. It is distinct and in addition to equal pay reporting.

Equal pay looks for pay differences between men and women carrying out the same job, similar job or work of equal value. Paying a man more than a women (or vise versa) for the same job is unlawful, and has been since 1970.

Gender Pay Reporting on the other hand looks at differences in the average pay (including hourly pay and bonuses) between all men and women in a workforce, and is expressed as a % of mens earnings.

Over 10,000 companies with a workforce of more than 250 filed their first Gender Pay Gap reporting results yesterday, and the figures, at first glance at least appear quite concerning –

78% of companies who have responded have a pay gap that favours men.

But what does the Gender Pay Gap actually mean?

It means that in the workforce of that company, 78% of men earn more than the women.

Concerning right? But the figures shouldn’t be taken solely on face value.

What this headline figure doesn’t explain is – What proportion of the workforce are male or female? How many of these jobs are part time, flexible, term time or job share? What proportion of part time salaries are male and female? Maternity pay is also included in the calculations, so women who are currently on statutory maternity pay will be earning significantly less than their usual take home – all will affect the results.

On face value, this statement implies that men are unfairly paid more than women, but that isn’t automatically the case.

The issue of a Gender Pay gap for me doesn’t automatically scream discrimination or unlawful activity. For some of course it might raise some serious questions about recruitment practices and decision making, but for the majority, it raises more of a social question as to WHY such a gender pay gap exists.

Here are my thoughts on the Gender Pay Gap.

The gender pay gap is an emotive issue because despite what many might like to believe, there is still a lack of women in senior positions. Just 7 FTSE 100 Companies have a female CEO. 66% of senior roles at newspapers are held by men, and just 208 out of 650 MPs are women.

It is common knowledge that many women attempt to return to work part time after having children due to both their parenting responsibilities and the cost of childcare. Many families cannot afford to have children in childcare on a full time basis, so one parent, more often than not the Mother, reduces or flexes their hours in order to accommodate their changed family set up.

Although times are changing (see The Truth Behind Family Friendly Working), many women still struggle to secure part time working, with many requests for flexible working still being turned down for business reasons, leaving women with two choices- either take a lower paid job that gives them the flexibility they require, or don’t return to the workplace at all.

Of course this isn’t always the case, and nor should it be, but inevitably, many women returning to the workplace after having a child feel they need to take a step back in their careers.

As such, women often take a drop in salary, work fewer hours or work more flexibly around caring responsibilities (whether that be childcare or elderly parents) and as such, on paper, earn less of an average salary as a result.

Men traditionally take less flexible approaches to work, tend to be the ones that return full time, and don’t routinely take up the childcare or caring responsibilities. Of the 6.5m people in unpaid caring roles in the UK – 58% are women. This is also demonstrated by the incredibly poor take up of the Shared Parental Leave regulations – with just 5% of eligible men taking up the option since its introduction 3 years ago.

Is this right? – No of course not. But for me, the Gender Pay Gap is a social issue, not an equality one.

If I use myself as an example – If I wanted to return as a HR Business Partner and work full time, would I expect to be on the same salary as a man doing the same job? Of course – that is EQUAL pay, and anything other than this would be against the law.

However, as a Mum, I have taken the decision that I do not want to work long hours, don’t want the additional stress that comes with more responsibility, and don’t want a rigidly fixed working week. I cannot afford full time childcare, and for that reason looked to secure a part time role that met the balance between work and family commitments. Did we discuss my partner going part time? No. Did he earn more than me? No. It didn’t even enter our heads that he might stay at home with the children, which I guess sounds pretty bad when written down in black and white.

I could ask some serious questions about why we didn’t consider a more equal role in staying at home with our children, but when it comes down to the crunch, for me personally, I WANTED to take that option.

I have returned to a job that is part time, three days a week, and taken a role on less money than I was previously earning, favouring elements such as location, work life balance, and overall wellbeing instead of financial gains. As a result, I am a now a woman in a lower paid job, and as such, would fall into the category of being lower paid than men in my organisation.

The Gender Pay Reporting appears to be forgetting that not all women want to earn a high salary.

I don’t feel hard done by or prevented from progressing my career, because I have actively made the decision to take a step back.

That said, there are still many women who do want to achieve more senior positions, but feel they are unable to do so, and ultimately that is what the reporting is trying to prevent.

I am all for equality, all for removing barriers to women progressing in employment, but I actually find the reporting incredibly misleading, giving the impression that men are simply just paid more than women. This isn’t generally the case.

What is more concerning is the social question of – Why is there a gender gap at all?

Is this through choice? (women, like me perhaps, simply not wanting higher paid jobs), or is it that they are being prevented from achieving them? Is this glass ceiling for women still as prevalent as it was in the 80’s? Are men being negatively prevented from taking on caring responsibilities due to generalisations about the role of a father and the outdated pretense of men being expected to be the higher earner? What can be done to encourage more men to be more open to being the ‘carer’ and help women who do want to continue their career do so without facing hurdles?

Whatever the reasons, the Gender Pay Reporting should definitely prompt employers to review their existing practices and highlight any potential biases that may exist within their organisation.

In order to reduce the gender pay gap employers should:

• Ensure that women and men have equal opportunities to progress into more senior levels within the organisation.
• Take positive steps to grow and develop the talent of women in the workplace – this could include leadership training, mentoring or coaching.
• Not let maternity or gaps in employment prevent progression – e.g. ensure that women on maternity leave are kept abreast of promotion opportunities, and that KIT days are utilised to their full potential to ensure those on maternity are  kept in the loop of changes in the industry that may otherwise impact their opportunities to advance their career.
• Ensure managers have recruitment and selection training to highlight the risks of gender bias, unconscious biases in employment or halo and horns effect. For example, when senior roles in an industry have traditionally been done by men, unconscious biases can lead to interviewers responding more positively towards someone who fits the traditional ‘mould’.
• Do not make assumptions about a woman’s desires for a career. Just because a woman has a break to have a child, does not mean that they no longer have the same desires to progress. Some DO decide to consciously step back, but it is unethical and illegal to make a decision about someone’s suitability based on reasons relating to maternity.
• Ensure that flexibility and work life balance opportunities are offered equally to both men and women in the workplace. As can be seen by the poor take up of the Shared Parental Leave – There does appear unfortunately to still be some stigma associated with men staying at home, which is completely outdated and clearly needs to change – an increased take up of shared parental leave or an increase in male flexible working would have a big impact on the gender pay gap.

If you want to find out the Gender Pay Gap at your employer, you can do so on the BBC Website’s handy tool here

What are your thoughts on the Gender Pay Gap reporting? Are you concerned by the results?