Six out of ten women would take into consideration an organisation’s gender pay gap when looking for a job, according to the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
In a survey of 2,515 employees, 61% of female employees said they’d look at the gender pay gap, and 58% said they’d be less likely to recommend their employer if it had a gender pay gap. Half said they’d be less motivated and committed to their employer if it had such a gap.
As for men, 39% would feel less proud to work for an employer with a gender pay gap, compared to 60% of women. Nine out of 10 men and women surveyed had heard of the gender pay gap, but almost half didn’t know what their employer’s pay gap was, or what the company planned to do about it.
Legal opinion
As more businesses are forced to be transparent about their gender-pay-gap reporting, we suggest employers stay ahead of the game by proactively trying to reduce their pay gap as soon as possible, because the businesses most visibly trying to make a difference will be more attractive to talented job hunters. Companies should also consider whether they have the tools and data collection systems in place to deal with ethnicity-pay-gap reporting which is also on the horizon.
