A cross-party group of female MP’s have created the #PayMeToo campaign. The purpose of this campaign is to provide females with advice on how they can ask their colleagues what they are paid. It also encourages females to discuss with their managers what their organisations action plan is for dealing with the gender pay gap.
“Women are already telling us that they are being told not to ask difficult questions about this for fear of affecting their careers and we want to be clear that trying to silence employees isn’t the right response” said Labour MP Stella Creasy and also leader of the campaign.
Creasy warned employers: “If you have a gender pay gap, you should expect to be challenged to address it and held to account if you try to stop your staff speaking up, whether by trade unions, women’s networks or parliament”.
The deadline for public sector employers to publish their gender pay gap has passed and it has revealed that nine out of ten public sector organisations pay their male staff more than their female staff in 2017. It is also reported that males are paid on average 14% more than their female colleagues.
The Royal Hospital School in Ipswich, had the biggest median gender pay gap. The school paid their male staff on average 66% more than their female staff.
Around 60% of The Royal Hospital School’s workforce is made up of women, with the majority working in cleaning, support or laundry roles. The hourly rate for these roles is significantly less than other roles in the school which the majority of their male staff work in.
The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), published a median pay gap of 55.3%. The safety regulator for the civil nuclear industry claimed the majority of their female employees were in supporting roles whereas their male employees were employed in higher grading levels in specialist roles.
It is believed the ONR aim to attract more women into their higher-paid specialist roles through using anonymous selection in their recruitment processes. This helps to eliminate unconscious bias. Also, the ONR plans to promote diversity in their recruitment campaigns so both men and women are treated equally.
It is hoped the online #PayMeToo campaign will replicate the success of the #MeToo campaign. The hashtag was used on social media to help demonstrate the wide prevalence of sexual assault, particularly in the workplace. This followed soon after the public revelations of sexual misconduct allegations against Harvey Weinstein.
Public sector employers had until the 4th April 2018 to publish their gender pay report.
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