Fair Pay for All Genders

What you pay your employees can have a considerable effect on the efficiency of your business and on the morale and productivity of your workforce. It is vital that as an employer you offer fair pay rates for all your staff and reward workers fairly for the work they perform. This also applies to holiday entitlement, bonuses, reward schemes and pension payments.

The National Living Wage

The Government’s National Living Wage was introduced on 1 April 2016 for all working people aged 25 and over, and is set at £7.20 per hour. Most people who work are entitled to get paid at least the National Minimum Wage. This includes casual workers, people on zero hours contracts and agency workers.

Equal pay

Equal pay means that men and women in the same role performing the same work must receive equal pay, as detailed in the Equality Act 2010. However, women in Britain are still earning less than men. “The difference in pay between men and women remains the clearest and most dramatic example of inequality for women.” (www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/)

Particularly women who care for their children, take maternity leave or work reduced hours can be affected. These jobs are typically lower paid with fewer progression opportunities. As an employer, you are under a legal obligation to provide equal pay for all your staff.

What can you do?

Failing to ensure equal pay in your organisation could lead to legal claims and reputational damage so you must ensure you are abiding to the employment laws. Not only is fair pay a legal requirement but it’s also good management practice. By tackling unequal pay you can increase efficiency and productivity, as it will help to attract the best employees, reduce staff turnover, increase commitment and reduce absenteeism.

Here’s what you can do as employer to ensure you are abiding the laws:-

• Conduct an audit to identify if you have any pay gaps by comparing salaries for men and women doing the same role in your company.
• Ensure you are paying the National Living Wage or National Minimum Wage to all your employees depending on their age.
• Support women to progress to higher paid jobs and to apply for promotions.
• Advertise jobs at all levels as flexible, part-time or as a job-share unless there’s a strong business case not to.

We can work closely with you and give advice with your recruitment process. We support all our candidates and ensure employers are taking the right steps to achieve fairness in the workplace. We can work with you to attract and retain the best and brightest staff to create a happy and productive workforce! Give us a call on 0333 3449 444 to discuss your recruitment needs.