9 April 2009
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has published a report, the first stage of its inquiry into pay rates in the financial sector. The report, entitled
Employment and earnings in the finance sector: a gender analysis, reveals a dismal picture of inequality in the UK financial sector. The main findings of the reports are:
- Women and men each form around half of all employees in the sector, which is roughly similar to the economy as a whole.
- Only 28 percent of those working in professional occupations in the sector are women, compared to 42 percent in the economy as a whole.
- Only 11 percent of senior managers in the sector are women, compared to 28 percent in the economy as a whole.
- The overall gender pay gap for women and men working full-time in the sector is 55 percent for annual gross pay – approximately double the 28 percent figure for the economy as a whole. The gender pay gap for full-time, hourly pay (excluding overtime) is 40 percent, compared with 17 percent for the economy as a whole.
- Comparing three sub-sectors, the highest gender pay gap for annual gross pay for full-time workers is in the 'Auxiliary Activities' area of the sector (which includes fund management, stock broking and futures trading) at 60 percent, while the lowest is in the insurance and pensions area with 41 percent. Auxiliary activities have the highest gender pay gap for hourly pay for full-timers excluding overtime, at 42 percent, with insurance and pensions the lowest at 36 percent.
- The gender pay gap for mean annual incentive pay for full-time employees is 79 percent.
The employment discrimination team at Leigh Day & Co has successfully represented many professional women who work in the City in their claims against employers.
Camilla Palmer, head of the employment discrimination team at Leigh Day & Co says:
"The gender pay gap is shocking. It partly arises from the lack of transparency in pay and bonuses so that employees are ignorant of what their peers are paid. Many women returning from maternity leave are denied the right to return to the same job and suffer long term career loss - and pay - as a result. So, sadly, gender discrimination is still rife despite over 30 years of equality legislation. We represent and support employees who choose to challenge discrimination."
Please complete our employment enquiry form if you think that you are being paid unfairly and someone from the team will contact you.
Information was correct at time of publishing. See terms and conditions for further details.
Information was correct at time of publishing. See terms and conditions for further details.