Men vs women

WOMEN in Swindon are getting a raw deal compared with their male colleagues. A survey has revealed they are getting paid on average £180 per week less.

The town's gender pay gap is the largest in the South West, and much bigger than the national average of £129 per week.

The difference in pay is believed to be caused by a combination of:

Bosses breaking the law by paying women less than men for similar jobs.

Jobs traditionally held by women, such as cleaning and catering, being undervalued and paid less than those traditionally held by men, like security and labour.

Women who take time out from their careers to have children being forced to return as new employees further down the pay scale despite their experience.

Men doing jobs in which overtime shifts and bonuses are more common.

The discriminatory application of performance-related pay scales by male bosses

Men being generally more inclined to challenge pay offers and negotiate bigger starting salaries.

The survey was carried out by the GMB, the General Workers' Union, based on Government figures for full-time workers.

Kevin Brandstatter, GMB organiser for Swindon, said: "The survey is confirmation that despite having equal pay laws for 30 years the pay gap between men and women is huge.

"That Swindon should come top of the list in the South West will no doubt come as a blow, and employers should be ashamed of this."

The GMB has dealt with six cases of pay discrimination in Swindon in the past two years.

It is now calling for "equal pay for equal value" and for compulsory pay reviews to expose discrimination where it exists.

The Government has brought in a law allowing workers to demand their bosses fill in an equal pay questionnaire so they can find out whether they have an equal pay case.

But the union said this laid individuals open to possible victimisation, and said the responsibility should be with the employer.

The GMB's report was produced by the University of Durham using official figures contained in the Government's New Earnings Survey.

It shows Swindon well ahead as the most unequal area for pay in the South West.

In second position is Bath and North East Somerset, where women earn £163 per week less than men.

South Gloucestershire is third with a £158 pay difference and Wiltshire, excluding Swindon borough, fourth with £131.

The area with the highest gender pay gap in the country is the City of London, where men earn a staggering £412 per week more than their women colleagues.

South Swindon MP Julia Drown said: "It's wrong that historically women's jobs have been undervalued, and it's outrageous that women can be paid less for doing the same job as men.

"I'm surprised that Swindon has come out worst in the South West because many of the employers we have in Swindon are among the more progressive.

"I would urge employers to review their pay so we can look forward to a future survey with Swindon coming out at the top rather than the bottom of this league."

A spokesman for the Department of Trade and Industry said the Government was determined to shed light on unequal pay and the culture of secrecy that often existed within companies.

The pay gap has been narrowing at a rate of about one per cent per year for the past ten years, he said.

The Government wants one third of British companies to have undertaken pay reviews by 2006, but has ruled out making them compulsory.

The Government's deputy women's minister Jacqui Smith has said it is considering speeding up any lawsuits brought by women against their employers over unequal pay. Options include specialist tribunals to deal with complex cases more quickly.

Achieving the right balance

A successful Swindon career woman talks about her experience in the workplace.

CAROL Hurst, 46, is head of personnel at Swindon-based Nationwide. She lives in Lechlade and is married with a six-year-old daughter.

She said: "I have worked my way up, taking every opportunity, and I would hope any job I have got has been on the basis of merit.

"I try to do the best I can in any job and I've been helped along the way by supportive bosses, who have mostly been male.

"What is important to me is the issue of a work-life balance. It's very important you can come to work and not have to feel guilty that you are doing it at the expense of home life.

"My company has agreed to be flexible; one morning a week I will drop my daughter off at school and come in a bit later, and one afternoon I will pick her up. It makes a huge amount of difference to me.

"Most women have this guilt complex about working full-time, and it's very hard to balance home and work.

"When women feel their advancement is at the expense of the family, a lot of women say they don't want to pay that personal price, even if they're talented and capable.

"It's very important to give as much support to flexible working as we can.

"People probably do look on me as a role model so I make a point of not working long hours and go home at a reasonable time. There probably aren't enough role models for women.

"I'm sure no-one is openly being sexist, and things are a lot better than they were early on in my career, when women probably did have to work harder than men to prove themselves."

Even playing fields!

A spokeswoman for Nationwide said: "We review our pay once a year and aim to ensure people get the right rate of pay in relation to jobs, skills, experience and contribution."

In 2002 the company was one of three national finalists for a Castle Award, which recognised its commitment to flexible working and its fair and transparent pay systems.

Phil Wood, Zurich's HR director, said: "We regularly benchmark our salary ranges against others in the industry to ensure that we pay the appropriate market rate.

"Our salaries are based on market rate and personal performance not gender or number of working hours."

Chris Birdsall, of the Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust, said: "In the NHS you are paid for what job you do on the basis of a complex pay scale irrespective of whether you are male or female."

A spokesman for Swindon council said: "The council is in the process of reviewing its pay and grading arrangements.

"This project includes objectives to identify any potential gender inequality issues and will develop proposals to address these as appropriate."

Angela Roberts, part-owner of Old Town sandwich shop Food for Thought, said: "Catering is a job with long hours and it can be hard work.

"The gap between what men and women are paid is an issue. If you are doing the same sort of job there should be equality."

Mrs J paid £1,000 less than Mr P for doing same job

The GMB union provided this example of a pay discrimination case in Swindon it dealt with.

MRS J joined a local telemarketing company at the same time as Mr P.

They had identical jobs which involved phoning small businesses on behalf of major national clients and setting up leads for sales staff.

Both Mr P and Mrs J had similar qualifications and about three years' experience.

Mrs J contacted the GMB after she found out that her male colleague had been employed on a basic wage of £14,000 while she was on £13,000. In a pay review her salary was raised to £13,750, but she found out his had been raised to £15,000.

The GMB took her case up and found he had been an acquaintance of a company manager before joining, had refused the initial offer of a £13,000 salary and was then offered more. It emerged that Mrs J was a more successful telemarketer and had received a larger end-of-year bonus than Mr P.

The case was eventually resolved in Mrs J's favour but only after the GMB had threatened legal action.