Gender pay gap: Women working free

The gender pay gap among managers has narrowed slightly in Britain, but women are still effectively working free almost two hours a day.

The CMI’s chief executive, Ann Francke, said that, while there was some improvement, “working for free two hours a day is unacceptable”.

The gender pay gap across management professions now stands at 8,524 pounds with male earnings averaging 39,136 pounds compared with 30,612 pounds for female managers, according to the survey, carried out by the CMI and the pay analysts XPertHR.

In 2014, the pay gap stood at £9,069 – or 23%.

In other findings, the pay gap across the UK was shown to be widest for employees of organisations with between 250 and 999 staff, in which women earn on average 27% less.

Women lose out on bonuses as well, the data shows, with men receiving average payouts of more than double the size of their female colleagues.

The CMI/Xpert survey also reveals that the pay gap widens as women get older.

22%: The difference between female workers’ pay and that of their male colleagues.

Women working in equivalent full-time roles earn 19% less than men, meaning they are unpaid for 1h 26m a day.

Kathryn Nawrockyi, gender equality director at Business in the Community, said, “These figures are worrying and serve as a warning to employers to start analysing their gender pay data, to understand whether any gender pay gap in their organisation is a effect of unequal pay”.

While women outnumber men in junior management jobs, fewer than one in four are on company boards. While some progress is being made, it’s clear that Lord Davies is right to target the executive pipeline.

Today’s CMI report said more transparency on what companies were paying staff would be a “powerful driver” for closing the gender gap.

The Government plans to introduce legislation next year that will compel firms with 250 employees or more to publish information on the pay gap.

“Having more women in senior executive roles will pave the way for others and ensure they’re paid the same as their male colleagues at every stage of their careers”. A man in an equivalent job is paid £39,136. Employers need to look at how many women are at the top of their organisations and how they get there.

The national gender pay gap – reflecting average pay across all workplaces – is now at its lowest level since records began. It rises to £29,910 for senior or director-level staff.

“One way forward would be to ensure that senior roles are advertised on a part-time basis or as a job-share unless there is a good business case for not doing so”, Sam Smethers, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, said, commenting on the new survey. Women comprise 67% of the workforce in entry-level roles, but female representation drops to 43% at senior management level.

Analysis of the data from the 2015 National Management Salary Survey highlights pay imbalances across the UK’s professional workforce.