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While there have been a number of initiatives to reduce the gender pay gap in recent years, a study has found that the number of high female earners has not changed in the last four years.
According to HM Revenue and Customs, the proportion of high earning female taxpayers has remained unchanged despite the total number of higher-rate taxpayers rising by about one million in the last four years.
The figures regarding the number of high earners come amid a number of campaigns in the public, private and voluntary sectors to try and reduce the pay gap between male and female workers.
The gender pay gap is something that has sadly affected businesses for far too long. However, some companies, such as HSBC, are aiming to appoint more females to their boards to have a 50/50 split with Lloyds Banking group also aiming to have at least 40% of their board consisting of female workers. Under a third of the UK bank’s senior management roles are held by women. HSBC management stated that in their company and the world of banking women are “significantly under-represented at a senior management level.”
New initiatives announced by the UK government in July looked to make UK organisations with 250 employees or more members of staff publish the difference between the average pay of their male and female employees. This was seen by some as a positive step in an attempt to effectively “name and shame” those not paying female staff while others felt that the rules would have little effect on reducing inequality in the workplace.
Although a number of targets have been in place for over a year, according to data from the Office for National Statistics in 2015 the pay gap was 9.4%, a reduction of 0.2 percentage points on 2014.
While many have praised the targets set out by the government and other companies, others were critical that many of the initiatives only targeted high-earning females with the gender pay gap affecting all female workers across businesses. Some have also stated that more action is needed rather than just a constant reporting of the gender gap.
Charles Urquhart an employment solicitor who collected data using HMRC's figures said: "For gender pay reporting to be valuable, a like-for-like comparison across all levels within an organisation, from the CEO to unskilled levels of employee, would be needed."
While many employers treat all members of staff fairly, there are some who do not. If you are being underpaid, harassed, discriminated against or if you have been overlooked for a promotion as a result of your gender, age, race or ability, you could be entitled to take legal action. To begin your claim, get in touch with our team of expert employment solicitors today using our online contact form.
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