Has anyone elses salary been affected by the gender pay gap yet?

[Roar87]

My company which is made up of nearly 80% women have decided that we must do something about the gender pay gap. They have looked at the average hourly rate of men and women at the company and noticed that men are paid more than women.

As a finance company the majority of the staff are lower grade staff (think telephone advisors). As a lot of these staff are women it drags their average hourly pay rate down. Typically more of the senior management and people in higher paying technical roles are male.

What my company has done to address this is give a > 10% pay rise to the lower grade staff to bump the average female hourly rate up. They have literally stated this is the reason they are doing it. This obviously means people above the lowest grade, including myself, get a much smaller pay rise, despite us being in a more demanding role with greater responsibility.

On one hand I'm happy that people at the lower end of the scale are getting a bit of a pay rise, but on the other hand I'm not very happy about this as my salary is already below the market reference for my role, and with inflation being fairly high it essentially means this year I'm getting a pay cut (our wage rise is about 2% vs 3%~ for inflation) because men are more successful than women.

Anyone else been affected by this?

 

[Jokester]

If you believe your company undervalues you, look for work elsewhere.

 

[Fusion]

They have looked at the average hourly rate of men and women at the company and noticed that men are paid more than women.

Only because pay is a function of role, seniority, experience and all the rest. Unless there's hiring/promotional bias (which is a different issue, and should be addressed), the career ambitions of employees is a matter for them personally. If two employees of the same skill sets and experience are on different sums are on different salaries due to gender, then again, that's a different matter. But this study has just looked at averages of both sexes across the board (as they most often do).

 

[Scam]

Surely if they've bumped up all lower grade staff they've not actually done anything about the gender pay gap as the men there will have received the same bump? I'm sure a resident mathematician can tell us..

 

[Roar87]

Only because pay is a function of role, seniority, experience and all the rest. Unless there's hiring/promotional bias (which is a different issue, and should be addressed), the career ambitions of employees is a matter for them personally. If two employees of the same skill sets and experience are on different sums are on different salaries due to gender, then again, that's a different matter. But this study has just looked at averages of both sexes across the board (as they most often do).

Yes that's what they've said. They're also committed to hiring more females in a senior role and have set targets (good luck to any men applying to be a Senior Manager in the future..), although the fact nearly 80% of the companies employees are female doesn't seem to be an issue.

 

[Fusion]

Surely if they've bumped up all lower grade staff they've not actually done anything about the gender pay gap as the men there will have received the same bump? I'm sure a resident mathematician can tell us..

If proportionally more women are on the lower grades, then it will close the gap between sexes overall.

 

[Roar87]

If you believe your company undervalues you, look for work elsewhere.

I think the company are more driven by the threat of negative PR than they are about paying people based on merit and competency, so yes I may have to.

 

[Fusion]

They're also committed to hiring more females in a senior role and have set targets (good luck to any men applying to be a Senior Manager in the future..)

Wrong approach. Bias (if present) should be removed, but positive discrimination isn't the answer.

 

[Roar87]

Wrong approach. Bias (if present) should be removed, but positive discrimination isn't the answer.

Yeah they're seemingly not worried about hiring people for high paying senior roles based on what sex organs they possess. Some what the opposite of what's intended I feel.

 

[Dis86]

Sounds like your company is run by morons.

 

[TallPaul1878]

I think the company are more driven by the threat of negative PR than they are about paying people based on merit and competency, so yes I may have to.

Then you should. It's time to go now. Let these companies run themselves into the ground all in the name of "progress".

I was undervalued in a previous employment, I went to another company and poached a few other ex colleagues. We're all considerably better off, happier and the company we work for is far more successful.

 

[Raumarik]

Positive discrimination isn't the answer, they need to advertise posts better and be prepared to spend longer looking for a decent shortlist of candidates.

 

[Hades]

I would look for another job. When you resign state clearly that the reasons for you leaving are being discriminated against where your payrise is lower and your promotion prospects stunted because of sex discrimination against you.

Then threaten to sue them for constructive dismissal (I'm serious).

 

[TallPaul1878]

If proportionally more women are on the lower grades, then it will close the gap between sexes overall.

It will have a small impact on the at gap if more of the lower grade staff are female. The only way to get parity is to remove the men from senior roles.

Let's not beat about the bush here. This is the long term objective. Positions of power are occupied by men. The object is to replace these men.

If your company has decided to take "positive action" like the OP then eventually it will start to affect the bottom line and redundancies will need to be made. Have a guess which people will be getting their P45s. It's time to start looking for pastures new.

 

[Roar87]

I would look for another job. When you resign state clearly that the reasons for you leaving are being discriminated against where your payrise is lower and your promotion prospects stunted because of sex discrimination against you.

Then threaten to sue them for constructive dismissal (I'm serious).

I mean I'm not taking it overly personally, we're a FTSE 250 company with over 5,000 employees, but noted.

I would also imagine a lot of other companies are in a similar position to mine.

 

[krooton]

Regardless of them doing this, why stay in a job paying below market rates?

 

[Roar87]

Regardless of them doing this, why stay in a job paying below market rates?

I got promoted to this role internally, I most likely wouldn't have been hired for the role at another company as I had no previous experience, so although it pays below market rate, it's what I initially deserved when I first started. I've been doing the job for nearly 4 years though now.

 

[TallPaul1878]

I mean I'm not taking it overly personally, we're a FTSE 250 company with over 5,000 employees, but noted.

I would also imagine a lot of other companies are in a similar position to mine.

It doesn't matter how big the company is. You've already stated that your salary is lower than that of others in similar roles.

If you do not feel that you are valued by your company then it is time to find a new job. I don't recommend burning any bridges but in my notice I would make it known that I did not feel appropriately valued.

If you do find a more suitable role elsewhere and there are other positions available then I would encourage like minded colleagues to also jump ship.

All it takes for a big company to go under a string of bad decisions and the loss of their most important assets

 

[TallPaul1878]

I got promoted to this role internally, I most likely wouldn't have been hired for the role at another company as I had no previous experience, so although it pays below market rate, it's what I initially deserved when I first started. I've been doing the job for nearly 4 years though now.

Loyalty gets you nowhere, it certainly doesn't pay the mortgage. Cold hard cash does.

Go find a better job, don't burn bridges because you'll want references. You might be surprised, every time I've handed a notice in I've been offered a substantial pay rise. Sometimes I take them, sometimes I quit anyway.

 

[Oxide™]

you work with 80% women and you're complaining