Now Beeb bosses are planning to cut redundancy pay for working mums

THE BBC faced a fresh gender pay row last night after it emerged the corporation has drawn up proposals that would cut redundancy payments for working mothers.

Staff who have returned to work parttime after having children would lose out under changes put forward by bosses to no longer factor in previous hours worked when calculating pay-offs.

Unions last night called on the BBC to rethink the plan that would disproportionately affect women, who are more likely to reduce their working hours to accommodate their family.

It comes as the corporation faces allegations of sexism after it emerged only a third of its high earners are women. Under a review of its employee terms and conditions, BBC bosses have proposed changing its redundancy policy.

At present, part-time staff who lose their jobs receive a pay-off that ‘compensates them on the basis of their average hours of work over their continuous period of service’.

However, under the proposals, future redundancies would only be based on a worker’s current hours, unless there had been a change in the previous year. It means those who worked full time before reducing their hours would lose out. The BBC is consulting with unions Bectu, the NUJ and Unite over the plans.

Theresa May effectively accused the BBC of sex discrimination on pay after the salaries of its top stars was revealed on Wednesday.

She told LBC radio: ‘The BBC is paying women less for doing the same job as the men. I want to see women paid equally with men ... The Director General, Lord Hall, has said that he wants to abolish this gender pay gap – we want to see him doing that too.’

A BBC spokesman said: ‘These new proposals are not finalised. We are currently talking to our employees and listening to their feedback.’