Yahoo Finance The UK firms reporting the biggest gender pay gaps
Women in the UK are still being paid less than men despite the gender pay gap shrinking for the second year in a row, government data suggests.
The latest figures released through the government's pay gap mechanism show the median pay gap shrank to 9.8% in the year to last April, down from 10% a year earlier.
The analysis of organisations ranging from private firms to charities and government bodies shows that on average women were paid 90.2p for every £1 men earned.
Men get paid more on average compared to women in the vast majority of sectors, with the pay gap widening in 12 out of 21 industries. 36% of organisations had a larger median pay gap than last year.
The gap in education rose to 24.2%, 23.8% in construction and 20.8% in mining and quarrying. But, it fell to 22.5% in finance and insurance, from 23% a year earlier.
Analysis carried out by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) found the sector with the largest gender median pay gap was construction, where female employees received just 76p for every £1 earned by a man.
The median gap in the financial and insurance sector is equivalent to women receiving 88p in the pound compared with a male counterpart, while women working in information and communication earned 83p for every pound earned by a male.
Human health and social work activities reported the smallest gaps at 98p for every £1, with arts, entertainment, and recreation at 96p, and transportation and storage 95p.
Charles Cotton, senior policy adviser for reward and recognition with the CIPD, said the "figures show that very little has changed when it comes to addressing the gender pay gap in Great Britain".
"Employers shouldn’t just report the numbers; instead they need to understand the reason for any gap and be transparent about how they plan to tackle it."
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Britain made gender pay gap reporting mandatory in 2017 for every company with more than 250 employees, providing an insight into how far women’s earnings lag behind those of men.
Women working at construction firm Kier (KIE.L) earned 80p for every £1 that men earned, meaning the median hourly pay is 19.7% lower than men’s. Women’s mean hourly pay is 20.8% lower than men’s. While the women's bonus pay was 76.9% of the men’s.
Online retailer Asos (ASC.L) was among the UK's largest companies with the highest gender pay gaps. It reported a median pay gap of 44.8%, compared with 41% a year earlier. This partly reflects women at the fashion retailer mostly working in customer facing roles, which tend to be entry level and lower paid.
A spokeswoman for Asos said it was taking action to narrow the gap, "from hiring more women in leadership roles to working with our partners to empower female tech talent".
Real estate agent Savills (SVS.L) had a median pay gap of 41.1%, similar to 2020. Savills said it had "worked hard to build up our apprenticeship offering and transform our graduate schemes and because this recruitment has been most pronounced amongst those just starting their careers with us, it has now resulted in a widening of the pay gap".
Data files by budget airline easyJet's (EZJ.L) larger arm, easyJet Airline Company, showed women’s median wage stood at just 36p for every £1 that men earned in 2021.
The UK's most valuable private fintech firm reported a 96% bonus pay gap, or 44p for every £1 last year, a reduction of one percentage point on 2020. Its mean hourly pay gap was 22.7%, down 0.4 percentage points from 2020, while its median hourly pay gap was 25.2%.
Revolut CEO Nik Storonsky said the firms "must do more to ensure women are provided with fair and equitable opportunities".
"As CEO, it’s my duty to make this a reality, so that next year and in the years following, we can report an ever greater reduction in our Gender Pay Gap," he added.
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On the other end of the spectrum, women working at British American Tobacco earned £1.11 for every £1 that men earn when comparing median hourly pay, with their median hourly pay 11% higher compared to men’s. When comparing the mean (average) hourly pay, women’s mean hourly pay is 10% higher.
When it comes to bonuses they earn £1.02 for every £1, 2% higher. Women occupy 40% of the highest paid jobs and 33% of the lowest paid jobs at the tobacco maker.
Watch: Why do we still have a gender pay gap?
