As a result of the gender pay gap, women are effectively working for free from today until the end of 2016. Members from the UK team of the EU funded Close the Deal, Fill the Gap project, are meeting at QMUL to discuss the results of their research on the gender pay gap (GPG). The conference taking place on Friday 10 November at Queen Mary University of London is timely.
The project examines the legal, industrial relations and economic aspects the gender pay gap in the UK, Italy and Poland. During the meeting, Professor Hazel Conley (UWE), Professor Geraldine Healy (QMUL) and Professor Pedro Martins (QMUL), the members of the UK team, will focus on three case studies in Local Government, the Rail sector and Financial Services sector at the conference.
The project findings highlight how a lack of transparency in pay structures and gender bias in the awarding of bonuses have played a significant role in widening the gender pay gap in all three countries. Moreover, in some sectors for example Financial Services, the pay gap can exceed 40 per cent and ironically the more senior women become and the higher their salaries, the greater the gender pay gap between them and their male colleagues. The Fawcett Society argue that at the current rate of progress it will take at least 35 years to close the gender pay gap currently estimated at 13.9 per cent. These are timely findings in the UK as we await the implementation of s.78 of the Equality Act 2010 on mandatory gender pay gap reporting and have wider policy implications.
For further information, contact Professor Geraldine Healy g.m.healy@qmul.ac.uk; Professor Hazel Conley hazel.conley@uwe.ac.uk. You may also visit the Fill the Gap website.