Equal Pay Day shames UK businesses
A campaign by the Fawcett Society which has been deemed "Equal Pay Day" has highlighted the massive inequality in the UK business arena with regards to the pay of women and men. While the figures do vary across the country from county to county and from business to business, the average pay discrepancy between men and women doing exactly the same job now stands at 17.1%. However, this is not the whole picture!
The worst offender is West Somerset where the difference between the pay of men and women has been recorded at a staggering 53% in at least one case. While this particular example is out of kilter with the rest of the UK economy, there is no doubt there is and continues to be a pay gap between men and women around the world. The levels do vary from 11.4% in Cornwall to 28.3% in Hampshire and the London pay gap currently stands at around 25.4%.
Despite the fact that the UK government has attracted unwelcome attention with regards to its a equality program and equality regulations, there is no doubt that something needs to be done and it needs to be done quickly to ensure equal pay for equal jobs. The problem for businesses is the fact that men will not take a pay cut therefore women will have to be paid more in due course which will obviously impact upon their cost base. This is a very difficult and very surprising situation which may take some time to resolve.
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