‘Disgraceful’ BBC bosses blasted over sexist pay and forcing staff to avoid tax
THE BBC has discriminated against scores of women because of an ‘invidious and opaque’ culture at the top of the organisation, say MPs.
In a scathing report, the Commons culture committee found that management had failed female workers over pay and plunged the organisation into a ‘crisis of trust’.
It said women at the broadcaster feared challenging their employer – despite knowing they are being paid tens of thousands less than men who sit beside them.
And MPs said it was disgraceful that the BBC had forced employees to set up personal service companies (PSCs), which has left many with hundreds of thousands of pounds of debt following tax changes.
The digital, culture, media and sport committee began an inquiry into pay discrimination at the BBC several months ago following the resignation of its China editor Carrie Gracie and her criticism of its ‘secretive and illegal pay culture’.
Its report, which praised Miss Gracie for ‘shining a light’ on the gender pay crisis at the organisation, came after scores of BBC women gave evidence in front of MPs detailing the gender discrimination they had suffered. One female presenter was branded aggressive when she complained after discovering her male colleague as being paid 50 per cent more than her.
MPs said pay inequality had left women ‘feeling worthless or diminished’.
The committee also condemned a loophole that means the salaries of some of those earning more than £150,000 go undisclosed because they are employed by BBC Studios. As a commercial arm it is not technically covered by transparency rules. MPs said the loophole covers stars such as Strictly Come Dancing presenters Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman, as well as Question Time presenter David Dimbleby.
The report revealed that BBC bosses had rushed to increase women’s salaries just as pay lists were to be published. A TV presenter quoted in the report said: ‘Just before the BBC published pay over £150,000, I was offered an immediate pay rise. It became apparent that for nearly three years I had been sitting next to a man doing an identical job who was being paid tens of thousands of pounds more.’
However, even a year after the crisis was blown open, the BBC’s top 10 earners are still men. MPs branded the finding ‘shocking’.
Although many women have filed pay grievances, complaints are often subject to long delays and ‘bureaucratic confusion’, the report said. Just seven of the 78 formal grievances submitted by workers had been resolved, MPs said. Many had not received a response within the 90-day deadline promised by the BBC.
‘These rates are unacceptable,’ said the report. ‘Staff are spending unnecessarily long periods enduring anxiety about outcomes.’
It added that staff now had a lack of faith in management, who were accused of attempting to avoid the problem.
‘The BBC’s reluctance to tackle this issue has resulted in a loss of trust between staff and management,’ the report read.
Woman’s Hour presenter Jane Garvey said BBC employees are frustrated by the grievance process, which she said was ‘complicated, stressful and time-consuming’.
Committee chairman Damian Collins described the gender pay revelations as disturbing.
He said: ‘There’s a sense of anger and frustration at how difficult it’s been to raise these concerns – a sense that the BBC has dragged out people’s complaints as long as possible, that people have felt very uneasy about making the complaints in the first place and don’t feel they’ve been supported.’
Criticising the lack of action from BBC bosses, he added: ‘Enough is enough, they’ve got to give a commitment that this will all be resolved within six months.’
A BBC spokesman admitted the corporation still ‘has more to do’ but said much of the report was already out of date and that it had made ‘real progress’.
‘Feeling worthless or diminished’