BBC analysis suggests that Gender Pay Gap is growing

The BBC has completed analysis on the private companies that have published their latest gender pay gap figures and notes that 4 in 10 companies are reporting wider gaps than they did last year, including firms such as Kwik Fit, which grew from a negative pay gap of -15.2% to a positive one of 14%, and Virgin Atlantic which widened from 28.4% to 31%.

Other firms have improved, however, such as London Heathrow Airport which posted a gender pay gap of 0.6% compared with 6.5% last year. Of the 1,146 companies who have reported so far, 74% report a pay gap favouring men, 14% report a pay gap favouring women and 12% report no pay gap.

It is important to remember that the gender pay gap is different from equal pay (the requirement to pay women and men the same for equal work), and not complying with equal pay legislation is illegal. The gender pay gap can be caused by a myriad of different factors, including the sector type, the culture (such as working hours), and the desire of women to apply for more senior positions. Many of these factors are societal and long-standing, which will take time to change and improve. Firms who have to report may accompany their figures with a voluntary narrative to “explain” reasons for the gender pay gap, and comment on actions being taken to improve the pay gap.

Of course the majority of firms are yet to publish their data for this year, with the deadline for the private sector being 4 April 2019, and only about 10% of employers have reported their latest figures so far. The obligation to report on gender pay gap data is upon businesses with 250 or more employees. If your business is caught by the regulations, we would be happy to discuss the requirements with you and assist you with your calculations and preparing the relevant report.

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