Pay gap between men and women means female bosses work 57 days a year 'for free'

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/pay-gap-between-men-and-women-means-female-bosses-work-57-days-a-year-for-free-10470136.html

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A female manager effectively works for nothing for 100 minutes of each day because of the pay gap between men and women, according to the latest authoritative survey.

The average pay for women managers of all ages and all professional roles is £30,612. A man in an equivalent job is paid £39,136. That £8,524 gap is a slight improvement on 2014, when the figure was £9,069, but that 22 per cent gap is still equivalent to a woman doing unpaid work for an hour and 40 minutes per day, or 57 days a year.

Further up the pay scale, the gap widens. At senior or director level, the average pay for men is £138,699, and for women £123,756. Women at all levels also lose out on bonuses, with men receiving £4,898, almost twice the £2,531 average for women.

The gap is also wider for older women. In the 26-35 age group, men are on average 6 per cent better paid than women. Among 36- to 45-year-olds, there is a 20 per cent gap. In the 46-60 age bracket, the gap is 35 per cent, which is equivalent to a woman working 681 hours a year for no pay.

The widest gap was found in organisations with between 250 and 1,000 staff, where women’s pay was 27 per cent lower than men’s. The Government plans to introduce legislation next year that will compel firms with 250 employees or more to publish information on the pay gap.

Women outnumber men in junior management roles, but hold 43 per cent of senior management roles and 29 per cent of directorships.

The figures are based on the 2015 National Management Salary Survey compiled by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), and by the firm XpertHR, which advises on good management practice.

The CMI’s chief executive, Ann Francke, said that, while there was some improvement, “working for free two hours a day is unacceptable.”

Gloria De Piero MP, Labour’s Shadow minister for Women and Equalities, said: “We’ve tolerated this inequality for too long. We’re pleased that the Government has finally accepted Labour’s proposals for pay transparency but it must also ensure that all the information published leads to action.”

Mark Crail of XpertHR said: “An entire generation has now worked its way through from school leaver to retirement since the first equal pay legislation came into effect in 1970, yet the gender pay gap persists. And many employers still prefer not to know just how bad it is rather than doing something about it.”