Last summer, Grazia launched its biggest campaign to date. In June 2014, Mind The Pay Gap was launched with the aim of giving pay transparency to every UK worker. We set out to lift the lid on the pay gap and, ultimately, help eliminate it for good. For months we petitioned the government and thousands of you lobbied your MPs. In December we marched at the Houses of Parliament and in February we rallied the House of Lords. Eventually, we won - and today, our victory became even more of a reality.
Today, months after he bowed to pressure from Labour MP Gloria de Piero, from his former coalition partners the Liberal Democrats ahead of the General Election - and from you,* Grazia* readers - David Cameron announced that the Conservatives will be bringing forward plans to make large companies to publish their gender pay gaps publicly.
Section 78 of the Equality Act 2010 is existing legislation which was never previously enacted - until now. It calls for mandatory measures for companies of 250 employees or more to publish the anonymised salaries of their staff, making the pay gap visible in public - and arming women with crucial information which they can use to make sure they’re paid fairly.
Now, the legislation is expected to come into force in the first half of next year, following a national public consultation. The consultation, which closes on September 6, is primarily aimed at businesses - though it can be completed by anyone - and aims to gauge public opinion, set out the best way for pay transparency to be presented, when it is presented and how frequently, and how to better encourage and promote women and girls in the workplace. Not only that, but the government wants to crack down on issues which cause the gender pay gap to arise in the first place.
The news comes just after the anniversary of Grazia’s Mind The Pay Gap campaign launch last year. Led by Labour MP Gloria de Piero, we saw our campaign referenced in Parliament many times, become a breaking news story and resonate with you more than we imagined. In December we walked shoulder to shoulder with the women who marched at Dagenham to inspire the first ever Equal Pay Act back in 1970, and watched hundreds of MPs show their support.
It wasn’t all easy. In fact, at first, the legislation was fiercely contested, with many arguing that pay audits could be a costly process which could lead to negative repercussions. Yet, the five UK companies who currently voluntarily publish their pay gaps - including Tesco and PricewaterhouseCoopers - say there have been absolutely no negative repercussions. And large companies already have access to the information needed for pay transparency - the only difference is it’s not currently accessible to the public.
In fact, the positive effects of publishing our pay gaps far outweigh the negative - and David Cameron’s announcement that the new government is taking gender discrimination seriously is a victory for women all over the country. The legislation and this simple change has not only seen tangible results already (read this week’s Grazia for one reader’s account) but could also make crucial changes to the broader view of the way we value male and female work. Literally valuing the workers equally across the workplace and closing the pay gap for good could have profoundly progressive consequences not only for us, but for generations to come.
The legislation is not in full force yet - and, of course, this is just one battle in the fight to end gender discrimination. But this is a crucial and important step - and, come 2016, we could see the real rewards come to fruition. Grazia helped do that, but more importantly, you did. Thank you.