STV vows to act after female staff paid nearly one-fifth less than men

ONE of Scotland biggest broadcasters has revealed its female staff are paid nearly one fifth less than males, on average.

STV has disclosed its own gender pay gap, reporting a median gender pay gap of 17.3 per cent, which is only just below the UK average of 18.4 per cent. It follows several disputes around gender pay inequality which have blighted the sector recently.

Equality campaigners say more “concrete actions” were needed to tackle the issue.

The BBC, in particular, has been embroiled in highly publicised accusations from female presenters and journalists, including former BBC China editor Carrie Gracie and tennis star Martina Navratilova.

Fellow broadcaster Sky also revealed it has a median gender pay gap of 17.5 per cent across its entire organisation.

Channel 4, reported a gap even higher of 24.2 per cent, despite its workforce being nearly 60 per cent female.

STV, Sky and Channel 4 all blamed the pay discrepancy on the dominance of men in senior positions. STV, which serves most of Scotland, employs 538 staff across six UK locations. It stated a “higher proportion of men are employed in senior management and leadership roles”.

Across the company, the gender split of staff is 49 per cent men and 51 per cent women, but in the top group of earners, 70 per cent are men and 30 per cent women.

To address the issue, the broadcaster said it would introduce a target to achieve gender balance in the top 25 per cent of roles by earnings within five years, “as well as continuing to progress a programme of measures to improve diversity and inclusion”. It stated: “This includes widening the pool in recruitment activities; focusing on opportunities for accelerated career development; extending family-friendly policies and further training to raise awareness of unconscious bias.”

According to Scottish equality charity, Close the Gap, the gender pay gap goes beyond equal pay for equal work and the legal definition of equal pay. Those wishing to address the imbalance must combat issues such as gender stereotyping and workplace cultures, a lack of quality flexible work and high childcare costs.

Executive director Anna Ritchie Allan said one of the major stumbling blocks to closing the pay gap is many employers are unduly complacent and think they are already providing equal pay.

She added: “We know from the experience of the Scottish public sector, where employers already publish their pay gap, that reporting alone doesn’t create change. Targets are a good starting point, but this has to be underpinned by concrete actions that will address the causes of a company’s pay gap”

The BBC has previously reported a median gap of 9.3 per cent of its male and female staff. However it has attracted widespread criticism for huge disparities in pay between some of its top earners.

Last year, Radio 2’s Chris Evans was revealed as the highest paid male presenter at more than £2 million, compared to the highest paid woman, Claudia Winkleman, who is on between £450,000 and £499,999. Some 40 senior women journalists and presenters, including Scotland Editor Sarah Smith, signed a letter to director-general Tony Hall demanding action on inequality.

Earlier this year, BBC China editor Carrie Gracie, resigned from her role in protest at unequal pay.

Reporting alone doesn’t create change