The person next to you works fewer hours but gets the same money. 

The person across the desk has the same job, does the same things, but earns more. 

This is reality for most of us. 

Women know this. 

LGBTQ+ people know this. 

Black, Brown, Asian, Mixed Race people know this. 

Today is international Equal Pay Day. 

Work takes up 33% of our lives. 

We exchange time for money, so that we can afford to live. 

However, the money earned by most isn’t equal to others. 

Women in the UK only earn 86 pence for every pound a man earns. 

That’s across all jobs, types (i.e. full time and part time), and sectors. 

Even today, men and women are paid differently. 

But International Equal Pay Day goes beyond the binary. 

Equal pay transcends gender and looks at sexual orientation, gender identity, race, and ethnicity. 

It can be easy to focus on the divide between men and women. 

That’s where the media focus and statistics are. 

But pay gaps are multiplied when gender, race, and sexual orientation intersect. 

Data shows the greatest ethnicity pay gaps were seen for people of Mixed White and Black Caribbean, Bangladeshi, and Pakistani heritage. 

They earned 18.5%, 17.5%, and 13.3% less than White British people, respectively. 

For LGBTQ+ people, the most recent research suggests there is a 16% pay gap, meaning LGBTQ+ workers are effectively paid £6,703 less per year.   

It’s not doom and gloom though. 

Progress is being made.  

However, it is slow and appears to be slowing rather than speeding up. 

It is down to us business owners to change this. 

Facts & Figures 

In the UK, the overall pay gap is 14.3% better for men.  

The full time pay gap was 7.7% better for men. 

The part time pay gap was -3.3% (i.e. women earned more). 

Only two jobs had no pay gap; senior care workers and national government administrative occupations.  

Two jobs out of hundreds of thousands. 

Even “female dominated” industries are suffering.  

63% of jobs with more full-time female employees than full-time male employees had a gender pay gap in favour of men. 

These numbers just scratch the surface though. 

While it is called a Pay Gap, the issues go beyond just a pay packet. 

Equal Pay means equality and equity in the workplace for all employees. Not only tackling misogyny but also homophobia and racism. 

As an example, take these alarming facts from Stonewall; 

• 18% of LGBTQ+ staff have been the target of negative comments or conduct from colleagues. 

• 1 in 8 trans people have been physically attacked by customers or colleagues. 

• 10% of Black, Asian, and ethnic minority LGBTQ+ staff have been physically attacked, compared to 3% of white LGBTQ+ staff. 

• 18% of LGBTQ+ people looking for work were discriminated against because of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. 

• 12% of Black, Asian, and ethnic minority LGBTQ+ employees have lost a job in the last year because of being LGBTQ+, compared to four per cent of white LGBTQ+ staff. 

The solutions involve all of us.  

Equal pay is about jobs, opportunities, growth, development, and policy. 

It’s about broadening opportunities for progression, increasing diversity in senior positions, encouraging people to take roles in heavily dominated industries, and more.  

Not every business is perfect, not every business can do everything suggested, but if we did, it would be amazing. 

Each bit will create better business, better workers, and better pay. 

Not just for women, but for everyone. 

Solutions You Can Implement 

Flexible Working from Day One 

I have started with this as there are rumours of it becoming law. 

Flexible working has become popular for businesses and a popular benefit with employees. 

It’s also a key factor in helping tackle the pay gap.  

For example, even today a lot of parental responsibilities still fall on women. This affects a woman’s time and therefore their ability to take on a full time job. 

Women then have to sacrifice full time work for (often insecure) part time work to balance their care responsibilities.  

Flexible working provides the answer to maintaining a full time role without needing to sacrifice time, salary, or career. 

Allowing flexible working means parental partners can also be flexible, allowing for more opportunities for all. 

Giving employees the ability to work flexibly is one of the single most positive steps to help reduce the pay gap.  

Both the House of Commons and the Women and Equalities Committee have said flexible working for all “lies at the heart of addressing the gender pay gap”.  

Women don’t have to sacrifice careers, don’t have to lose salaries, can still contribute to your business, and be able to balance it with raising a family. 

This policy tackles head-on the expectation of women to work reduced hours to allow them to manage family commitments.  

It also reduces the compounding effect for ethnic minorities.  

In a recent survey for the Fawcett Society, 48% of Black and minoritised women said they would like greater flexibility in their work but are worried about the impact on their careers. 

Putting in place an effective flexible working policy will allow for greater diversity, inclusion, and opportunities for all. 

Salary Transparency 

This is part one of a two part solution that directly addresses the salary issue of the pay gap. 

When salaries are kept secret, it’s impossible for you to know if you’re receiving fair compensation for your work. 

Salary transparency is something that we, as a recruitment business, believe every business should adopt.  

When you were last looking for work, how frustrating was it to see an advert with the words “competitive salary”, only to find it was lower than what you were already on. 

Being transparent and clear in what you pay staff is important and benefits your business by: 

• Reducing the gender pay gap (obviously) 

• Attracting and retaining top talent 

• Boosting employee morale and productivity 

• Enhancing your employer brand and reputation 

• Getting ahead of pay transparency laws (rumoured to be coming soon) 

Being open about salaries also creates better discussions about pay, and fairer negotiations. 

It’s a simple step that gives your employees peace of mind knowing that they are earning – or will earn – a fair wage for their time, effort, and skills. 

Here are three steps to get started:  

• Set up your approach 

• First of all, you need to decide on how you will ensure clear, transparent, and fair compensation for all. It should guide your decisions about pay and state the level of transparency you’ve chosen to adopt.  

• Benchmark your salaries  

• Understanding what a good salary looks like is vital. If you want to be transparent about salaries, you need to make sure they’re fair and competitive. That means benchmarking them against the market. Repeat annually as rates constantly change.    

• Communicate Clearly  

• Whatever level of transparency you opt for, you should have a clear plan for communicating it. Make sure all of the messages your employees receive are consistent. Make them feel valued and appreciated. 

In Europe, salary information on job adverts is mandatory for all eligible companies (as of 2024). 

‍There are rumours (and even pilot schemes) new salary transparency laws are coming to the UK.  

Being ahead of the curve will future proof your business. 

Encourage salary negotiations 

Part two is encourage salary negotiations.  

When people don’t talk about money, it only ever benefits the employer.  

Or, more accurately, the employer that is trying to con its employees. 

If employees are equipped with information about how much their peers are earning, they’re in a better position to negotiate. 

It’s been shown in studies and surveys that women are far less likely to negotiate their pay than men.  

They are also unlikely to ask for an equivalent amount to their male peers due to this stigma. 

Encouraging negotiations, at all levels, is important in tackling the inequality of pay.  

Encouraging and being open to negotiations will overcome the stigma. 

Your employees are then able to be paid fairly and competitively for their contribution to the business.  

It also reduces the likelihood of salary negotiations turning contentious or confrontational.  

Since everything is out in the open, no one wastes time negotiating with expectations that are out of line.  

Improve Maternity, Paternity, and Parental leave 

One of the greatest factors affecting a woman’s pay is maternity. 

The loss of earnings from maternity leave, the discrimination from employers, the lack of employment rights, and outdated societal notions are some of the real issues. 

While there are laws and regulations, these issues still exist. 

The “motherhood penalty” greatly increases the gender pay gap. 

It widens the gulf between the salaries of mothers and their male counterparts and even childless female colleagues. 

It goes deeper, with mothers of Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage seeing a 13% pay gap and a 17% difference in employment compared to women of the same ethnicity without children. 

In addition, mothers are often forced into accepting a lower salary compared to their pre-motherhood earnings. 

The career break that comes with taking time out to have and care for children often reduces job prospects and puts women at a disadvantage when it comes to job hunting. 

The issue, however, goes beyond women.  

It also affects fathers, partners, gay couples, adoptive parents, guardians, etc. 

Not reviewing and improving your policies on maternity, paternity, and parental leave is a missed opportunity.  

As a simple example, modern fathers want to spend more time with their kids.  

However, due to only 2 weeks statutory leave and pay, many feel unable to take leave due to poor pay or unable to contribute effectively to child rearing. 

Not only this, with the cost of living, a family’s choices are becoming strained with more families stating that one or more partners cannot afford to take leave at all due to the poor amount of statutory pay and increased cost of living. 

Having a robust, effective, and fair policy for all parents – as well as providing flexible working and support – will create a better, more productive business. 

A lot of SMEs are going to worry about the financial element, however, it’s not all about the money.  

Policies with better leave for both partners, or increased flexible working, or support for childcare doesn’t cost the earth and makes an incredible difference. 

Do what extra you can and it will have a great effect on the pay gap, staff morale, and retention. 

Improved Recruitment (Especially at Senior Positions) 

As humans, we’re all prone to unconscious bias, no matter how pure our intentions. 

We draw patterns and make unconscious assumptions based on stereotypes, past experiences, and even what we see in the media. 

As a result, we cause further rifts in the gender, race, and sexual orientation gaps. 

One solution is blind / anonymous recruitment.  

It marks a good step towards diversity and inclusion. 

In its simplest form, it involves removing the name and any photos or contact information from a CV. 

This puts the focus on the person’s experiences, skills, and abilities – removing presumptions based on their name, looks, or geography. 

Hiring people based on skills and aptitude creates a fairer, better, and more diverse team.  

By removing bias and looking at the core skills you then hire people who may not have the “years of experience” but are still capable. 

This begins to address the balance of pay and diversity as more of those affected by pay gaps will be hired and put forward. 

Clear Promotion Paths 

What many women face at work are barriers that stop them either a. securing full time positions (especially after maternity leave) or b. progressing into senior positions and in turn, earning a higher salary.   

Progression into senior positions is harder for women and is multiplied if you are a woman of colour and/or identify as LGBTQ+. 

For example, research shows that 31% of women of colour have been unfairly passed over or denied a promotion at work.   

Therefore, a solution is putting in place clear promotional pathways. 

Nurturing and developing your employees is vital for the success of your business. 

However, without a clear path it can lead to a skewed representation at the top of the chain. 

By putting in place clear objective paths people can follow you will provide better opportunities for all of your employees. 

Base this on objective facts, clear of bias, and you will have a greater representation of individuals at the top. 

Fostering the talents, experiences, and skills of women in your workplace, and offering fair, clear and transparent routes to progression, shows you support women to reach their full potential and tackle your gender pay gap.   

Anti-Racism and Anti-Homophobia Plans 

The 2022 #EthnicityPayGapCampaign reported 52% of Black women had experienced being paid less than white colleagues in the same role. 

Many also reported being turned down for promotions, experiencing health problems related to workplace stress, and marginalisation. 

The Fawcett Society’s 2022 joint report with the Runnymede Trust, Broken Ladders, found that institutional racism is common in all sectors. 

75% of women of colour have experienced racism at work, 27% having suffered racial slurs, and 42% reporting being passed over for promotion despite good feedback (compared to 27% for white women). 

In a similar pattern, a TUC poll reveals widespread lack of support for LGBTQ+ people at work with only 1 in 8 employers monitoring their LGBTQ+ pay gap and only 1 in 3 companies who have up to date LGBTQ+ policies. 

21% of workplaces told the TUC they do not have any policies in place to support their LGBTQ+ staff at work. 

In today’s increasingly fractured world, it is no longer enough to be passive about these issues.  

The emphasis is for all business owners to address and tackle these issues head on. There needs to be action, not words. 

While establishing anti-racism, anti-homophobia, and anti-misogyny policies in your business is a great start, there needs to be action behind them. 

Please bear in mind that all of these fall under the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and by putting these new policies in place you show your commitment to equality. 

Once you establish the policy and act on it you are, naturally, likely to develop greater diversity and equal pay. 

As a place that is open to all people, treating them fairly and with equity and equal pay, you will open your talent pool to everyone who can truly benefit and grow your business. 

All in All 

The pay gap, in all its forms, is the responsibility of everyone to tackle. 

While there are several factors that affect it, the truth is that it is in our hands to be able to make a difference. 

Adopting changes like the above will create a fairer, more equal work environment for all.