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Network Journal Issue 02 |
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Closing the gap on men and women’s pay
It’s almost 30 years since women won the right to fair treatment at work, writes Julie Mellor, Chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission.
So why do we still hear about cases like the pregnant sales assistant who was sacked because the manager thought that his customers wouldn't like the sight of her? Why did the EOC have to support the case of a teenage girl who had been subjected to persistent sexual harassment at her Saturday job in a sports shop?
Why do women working in retail full-time still earn on average 25 per cent less per hour than men, and those who work part-time (which 65 per cent do) earn a staggering 46 per cent less than full-time men?
Clearly, although some retailers understand their legal responsibilities and know it makes business sense for them to treat their staff fairly, not all of them are getting the message. The EOC is campaigning on all the areas given as examples above - sexual harassment, discrimination against pregnant women, and unequal pay. Closing the pay gap is our top priority.
This big gap is unlikely to be due to conscious discrimination - few employers nowadays would dream of paying a woman less than a man doing the same job, simply because she was a woman. But pay discrimination is more complex than that.
Employers need to consider the value of the different jobs women and men do. Often a lower value is placed on jobs traditionally done by women. Or jobs dominated by men might be the ones with access to overtime and bonuses. This kind of discrimination can become part of the pay system. That's why the EOC is urging all employers to review their pay system. We've produced a Kit and guidance to help employers. But recent EOC research revealed that only 18 per cent of large employers have actually done or are in the process of doing a review, and that the majority of employers have no plans to do one at all.
Women's and men's progression within any organisation obviously also affects the pay they receive. This is likely to be another factor in the pay gap in the retail sector, where only 12 per cent of women in the sector work at managerial levels, compared with 28 per cent of men, even though women account for just over 60 per cent of the workforce.
It seems likely that retailers are not getting the most out of all their women employees. There is a real challenge for retailers to create an environment where women are encouraged to apply for more senior positions within the organisation.
Some women choose to return to work part-time after having children. Many others find they have to go part-time because there is limited childcare available. They will often remain in part-time, relatively low paid work from then on. However, having children need not be a barrier to moving up the ladder at work.
Some retailers are leading the way in the range of shift patterns and the flexibility they offer their employees, and the new right to request flexible working should open this up to even more people. However, it needs to be backed up by affordable childcare. Until every parent can take for granted that there is a place for their child, then the talents of many women will be wasted and their pay will continue to lag far behind.
The retail sector accounts for more than 10 per cent of UK jobs, so if retailers get it right they can make a real difference to women's and men's working lives.
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