My Column

Pays to know the facts on gender gap.

  • Date: Monday 9th April 2018
column Picture

It still really pays to be a man – but the short-changing of female staff that can directly result from that is simply unacceptable in 2018.

New figures have painted a depressing picture of just how far there is still to go in the battle to properly remunerate women for their blood, sweat, and tears in the workplace.

We’ve been here before of course.

Last summer I got on my soapbox about the gender pay gap because I was sick of reading about salary disparities.

At that time the BBC had just released details of the salaries being paid out to its presenters and some of the male broadcasters were commanding six-figure sums.

Unsurprisingly, this sparked huge debate about whether there was gender bias in BBC salary decisions.  

This was put to bed to a certain extent in January when auditor PwC reported that there was “no gender bias” with a 6.8 per cent pay gap for on-air staff – lower than the overall BBC average pay gap of 9.3 per cent or the national average of 18 per cent.

Nevertheless, the wider debate has only gained momentum, reaching its peak last week thanks to Britain’s world-leading requirement for companies to report their gender pay gap.

All companies with 250 or more employees had to comply, and by the deadline of midnight last Wednesday, 10,016 had submitted their stats.

Sadly, that data revealed that more than three quarters of employers (78 per cent) pay men more on average than women.

And the Scottish numbers were even worse.  Of the 530 respondents, a massive 83.5 per cent reported a gap in favour of men.

Amongst the worst offenders were the banking and financial services sectors, where men not only received a higher median hourly rate, but also received significantly higher bonuses.

Standard Life, Aberdeen Asset Management, and Bank of Scotland were named and shamed as having some of the worst gender pay gaps. I could go on with similar examples across all sectors.

But here’s the big question – how meaningful is this research?

For the very first time, we have an unprecedented amount of data at our fingertips allowing us to look at the average hourly pay across a variety of sectors.  A good thing surely?

But when you look at comments and analysis online, it seems not everybody is a fan.

Some think that looking at average pay can be misleading, and doesn’t compare ‘apples with apples’. There’s an argument that it would be more meaningful to compare the wages of people within the same job roles, rather than looking at average pay across a whole organisation.

I saw one keyboard warrior online using aviation as an example, saying that if there were typically more male pilots and more female cabin crew, it was inevitable you’d find a notable gap when you examined average pay.

And I guess the same logic can be applied to lots of industries where certain genders dominate in certain job roles.

But that’s also why this research is so interesting. If that is indeed a reason for the disparity, it allows companies to take a step back and look at why women aren’t occupying those roles.

I should mention that it’s not all doom and gloom with Scottish companies. On a positive note, 15 per cent – including the National Museums of Scotland – do pay women more, while eight companies reported zero gap.

And this process is still far from complete. A huge number of companies have failed to respond and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) – tasked with enforcing reporting – will be writing to those companies this week.

So the numbers may change yet.

Generally speaking though, I welcome any process that encourages companies to take stock and ensures they’re putting skills before gender, so I hope this is a real force for positive change.

 

SIDE

Digital technology is big business and developments in the field continue to make a significant impact across a whole raft of industry sectors - particularly in oil and gas.

Industry heavyweight Total has revealed it hopes to soon use robots to inspect its North Sea platforms, news which is sure to shake up the sector and encourage other businesses to think seriously about how they can compete.

By 2020, the company hopes that all inspection work across its platforms and industrial sites will be carried out by artificial intelligence.

Robot jobs will include taking pressure readings, analysing temperatures, and detecting potential leaks – activities which Total says will help make inspections more reliable, cost-effective, and easier in challenging conditions.

Anything that will help to improve the safety of the workforce is a good idea in my book.

The idea was borne out of a design competition and if I was head of that company, I would be clamouring to get a patent on that idea quickly, if they haven’t done so already. 

Drawing on data recently released by the European Patent Office, Scottish intellectual property specialist Marks and Clerk has reported a rise in the number of patents being filed, specifically in the oil and gas sector.

The granting of energy-related patents has nearly doubled since 2008, while the volume of patents applied for has increased by nearly 40 per cent in the same period – and it’s a healthy indicator of a wellspring of innovation.

Marks and Clerk reckons that as oil and gas still relies on tools and devices for much of its work, it’s likely that traditional patents will still be the best way to protect intellectual property.

But, as we saw from Total’s plans, there’s also a growing trend towards digitisation, the rights around which can be more complex for the industry to secure.

Amid major competition across Scottish oil and gas, it’s never been more important to effectively protect those ideas.

 

WEEP

The price we pay for on-street parking drives us mad.

And it’s especially contentious in Edinburgh. Following February’s budget, some parts of the city have been hit with a parking price hike of up to 11 per cent.  

But the price of a parking fine in the city is still the same. 

So if you do get a parking ticket – and you pay it quickly – you’ll pay less than you would for a full day’s parking. I think that shows just how questionable the pricing system is.

No one likes having to pay to park, especially when it reaches almost £40 a day. I think local authorities should gear up for more outrage from motorists until we see more regulation across the board.

 

LAUGH

Dundee-based DC Thomson pulled off a PR masterstroke last week.

The Beano print house accused Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg of ‘infringing the intellectual property rights’ of its Walter the Softy character, a foe of Dennis the Menace.

In a formal cease and desist letter, Mike Stirling, head of Beano Studios, said Rees-Mogg had ‘adopted trademarked imagery and brand essences of the character to the benefit of enhancing your career and popularity’.

Listing some of the similarities, Mike mentions his hair parting, round glasses, ‘snootiness’, and tendency to stop people from having fun.

The Tory MP took it all in good part and I’m sure it gave a lot of folk a good chuckle. I just hope he doesn’t get terrorised by any real life Menaces.

Poor Walter. I mean Jacob.

 

 

 

 

Back to column listings

Recent News

News Archive