#PayMeToo campaign aims to close gender pay gap in the UK

Wednesday, April 4th is the deadline given to all UK companies with more than 250 employees to publicly share the difference in average pay between their male and female employees.

Thousands of companies have already responded and revealed the gender pay data including fashion retailers like Asos, Primark, Boohoo, Harrods, M&S, Zara, H&M and Warehouse. Unfortunately, their results indicate that even the fashion industry, which is traditionally a sector dominated by female employees, still sees the majority of men earning more than women. While some, such Coast (71.05 percent) and Phase Eight (64.8 percent), were criticized for revealing a gender pay gap far above the UK mean average of 17.4 percent, others, like Boohoo and H&M were praised for their lower mean pay gaps of 5.9 percent and 8 percent respectively.

#PayMeToo movement launched against Britain's gender pay gap

Although most companies have shared a brief outline of how they aim to close the gender pay gap in their companies, the fact remains that the gender pay gap has hardly shifted the past two decades. Women in the UK are likely to face a lifetime of unequal pay unless action is taken to close the pay gap, which sees women in Britain losing out close to 140 billion pounds a year in wages, according to an analysis by the Young Women’s Trust. In order to close the gender pay gap for good, a group of female MPs have teamed up and launched an online campaign called #PayMeToo, which encourages women to hold their employers accountable.

Led by Labour MP Stella Creasy, the new campaign aims to offer online support for all women fighting for equal pay and provide practical advice on how to address pay issues at work. The campaign is backed by Creasy's fellow MPs Jess Phillips and Lucy Powell; Conservative MP Nicky Morgan; Liberal Democrats Jo Swinson, Christine Jardine, and Layla Moran; as well as the Scottish National Party’s Hannah Bardell and Plaid Cymru’s Liz Saville Roberts. In an opinion piece for The Guardian, Creasy notes that 'women who exhibit the same leadership skills as men are judged completely differently', and that talking about equal pay may cause them to be seen as 'troublemakers.' She also highlights how the data shared shows that women are undervalued in numerous sectors, with gender predicting pay. "Patriarchy has held us all back for too long with such rhetoric – tired old notions that there are boys’ jobs and girls’ jobs, and that gender dictates ability."

RT! Do some good this bank holiday - Make sure everyone knows their rights and what to do next when it comes to tackling the gender pay gap in Britain. Because everyone deserves their fair share! Advice and survey here - https://t.co/VwFYxCUQ4Z #paymetoo pic.twitter.com/6z2OioBP8s

— stellacreasy (@stellacreasy) April 2, 2018

"That’s why we started the “#PayMeToo” campaign – to give practical advice on how to talk about it at work and what rights employees have to do so, and show that MPs are ready to act if this conversation gets shut down," wrote Creasy. "We know that this is not the full story on inequality in the workplace – with some companies not including partnership data...and the sole focus being gender and not ethnicity, class or disability. But we also know this data is telling us what James Brown sang – that it’s still a man’s world. #PayMeToo is about reminding us that it would be nothing without a woman or a girl." The launch of the #PayMeToo campaign comes after a report from the Equality and Human Rights Commission found that 'corrosive' workplace cultures of sexual harassment, assault, and bullying across the UK.

Photos: Via Pexels