Government warned to close gender pay gap

THE GOVERNMENT has been warned not to lose sight of tackling gender pay equality, after exclusive analysis showed more employers paid men higher salaries than women last year.

Thousands of businesses across the country are still failing to close the gender pay gap, including more than 300 in Yorkshire, the research published today has revealed.

However, the true scale of the issue is not known as the Government removed the legal requirement on large employers to disclose their gender pay gap figures for 2019/20 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Fawcett Society, the UK’s leading charity campaigning for gender equality, said it is vital the gender pay gap data continues to be published. The head of policy and campaigns, Gemma Rosenblatt, said: “The picture from this incomplete data isn’t good, with more employers reporting that men were paid more than women than last year. It shows why it is important that the Government doesn’t drop the ball on the gender pay gap.

“The coronavirus pandemic has hit women’s incomes hard, so it’s more important than ever that this data is published.”

The research, which has been conducted by the data unit from

JPIMedia, the publisher of The Yorkshire Post, has shown that more than 79 per cent of businesses in Yorkshire – 325 companies – had a pay gap favouring men in 2019/20.

Just 30 businesses had no pay gap and 52 firms had a gender pay favouring women.

Some employers reported paying women an average of just £3.59 for every £10 they paid men.

HUNDREDS OF Yorkshire businesses are still failing to close the gender pay gap, new analysis has revealed, with academy trusts among the worst employers when it comes to pay equality.

Almost 80 per cent of Yorkshire businesses had a pay gap favouring men in 2019/20 – 325 companies. Just 30 businesses had no pay gap and 52 had a gender pay favouring women.

While the figure is not exhaustive as there is currently no legal requirement on large employers to disclose pay gaps for 2019/20, around half of employers nationally have done so. Across the UK, 81 per cent of employers who had submitted reports by June 1 had a pay gap in favour of men, analysis by JPIMedia shows. Just 12 per cent of employers had a pay gap in favour of women, while only seven per cent had no gap.

The gender pay gap does not look at whether men and women are paid the same for equal work. Instead, it measures the difference between the average wages of men and women.

Of the Yorkshire companies who revealed data, many of those with the largest gaps were academy trusts, including Knaresborough’s Elevate Multi Academy Trust, which reported the average woman was paid £3.59 for every £10 the average man made. Elsewhere, Hull Collaborative Academy Trust’s (HACT) figure was £4.40, a slight improvement on the 18/19 figure of £4.23. Elevate and HACT were approached for comment.

The National Education Union Yorkshire and Humber senior regional officer, Kate Harr said the gender pay gaps in multi-academy trusts were exacerbated by two main factors – firstly that the CEOs tended to be male, with many being paid over £150,000, and secondly, that women teachers in their 50s at the top of pay scales are often subject to “draconian capability and performance management issues” that often result in older women leaving the profession, and never reaching senior leadership positions.

At the other end of the scale, some Yorkshire councils – Hull, Barnsley and Calderdale – reported no pay gap, and others, Hambleton, Harrogate, North East Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire, Scarborough and Craven, had pay gaps in favour of women.

A Local Government Association spokesperson said that while more progress has been made in local government than in many other sectors, ““we cannot be complacent”.