Women get paid from the 4th March. That's right!
On average in the UK women work for free for two months every year as a result of the gender pay gap! According to the Trades Union Congress (TUC) that means that with the average working an unpaid 63 days versus their male counterpart, today; March 4th marks the day women start getting paid!
The TUC analyses this further. Since the Equity Act came into force in April 2017, companies with more that 250 employees have been forced to publish their gender pay gap and it makes for some surprising results. Findings go on to show that there is still quite the discrepancy between industries. For example, education is an industry made up of 75% women, however the gender pay gap is 25.4%. This means that on average female teachers work for free for more than a quarter of the year (93 days)!
Meanwhile, women in the financial and insurance industry could be looking at 123 days working for free a year, which would mean for these it would be 3rd of May this year before their pay kicks in vs. a similar male colleague. There are also findings to suggest that location also plays a big part in gender pay differences, linked to the concentration of industries in different regions. If the UK average is 63 days of comparative unpaid work, then the areas with the smallest pay gap are Northern Ireland (37 day / 10.1% ) and Scotland (52 days / 14.3%). The area that has the biggest gap is the South East where there is on average 20.5% gap (over a month's difference compared to NI).
Companies are, in general, trying to close the gender pay gap and there has been a call for the workplace to recognise and help women with more family friendly policies. Employers are much more open to flexible working, encouraging parental leave and providing the same opportunities within the workplace. Pro-Tax are proud to announce that in 2020 to date, we have placed an exact 50:50 gender split into permanent positions. As well as this, Pro-Group is an inclusive employer and we are proud to have a female heavy employee base, with 50% women in management and on the board. We have also set up a new network for women working within the tax market - whether it be in practice, in-house, HMRC, support, HR or sales. This space is aimed at providing a platform to women working in the tax industry in whatever capacity so they can share insights and ideas, facilitate learning, development and further knowledge in a like minded supportive group through articles, discussions and events - if this is something you would be interested in please do join our network. (Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/04/women-work-for-free-for-two-months-a-year-says-tuc-analysis)For a confidential chat around what opportunities are available to all across the tax market, please contact Rebecca English on 020 7269 6320 or rebecca.english@pro-tax.co.uk.
