Companies in the UK with a headcount of 250 employees or more are legally required to share their gender and bonus pay gap by midnight on Wednesday through a government portal. This requirement is in accordance with the Equality Act of 2010.
In response to this requirement, VICE UK senior management wrote to its staff via email, that since none of VICE’s companies based out of the UK (VICE UK, Level Print, i-D, Pulse, VICE UK TV and Starworks) have more than 250 employees and since the law does not permit the aggregation of various entities of employees, this regulation did not apply to their organization this year. The company further elaborated that despite the fact that they are not eligible for this process, VICE UK’s median gender pay gap figure was calculated under the UK regulations using the same assessment process since the company is “committed to being open and transparent.”
According to the calculation based on a total headcount of 204 men and 211 women across all VICE UK companies, there is an average gender pay gap of 18.2% in favor of male employees, meaning that the organization is paying 18.2% more to their male employees when compared to their female colleagues.
This figure is above the national average of 17.4%. The company also stated that their median pay gap is 12.6%. Other than the reported numbers, the company said that a global audit of pay across various roles and levels of the media company was also in progress and would be complete by the end of the year.
According to the findings of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, 1,557 companies in the UK missed the deadline for reporting their gender pay gap figures. Of the 10,000 companies who did get their data published, over three-quarters of them pay more to men than their female colleagues. This may not necessarily indicate unequal pay for the same role however, it can mean that a company hires more men at a senior position than women.
“I have heard that a lot of headhunters are now calling senior women and saying: ‘Would you be interested in a move? Some of your competitors have got lower gender pay gaps,'” said the gender pay gap consultant and expert Helene Reardon Bond.
As of now, there is no clarity on what will happen at a government level. However, many companies have stated that they will take necessary steps to address this issue in their organizations.
