Much has been discussed over the past year around equal and fair pay, both at the 主播大秀 and at businesses around the world. The recent publication of our Annual Report has shown it continues to attract much debate.
We have set out the bold ambition of closing the gender pay gap by the end of 2020. By that point we also want half of our senior leaders to be women, as well as half of our on-air roles across television and radio, in all genres from Drama to News. We are making good progress. We’ve cut our gender pay gap from 9.3% in 2017 to 7.6% this year. Off air, the proportion of our leaders who are women has increased to 43.3%. And on air, while last year there was a 76:24 split between men and women on the list of those paid more than £150,000 from the licence fee, projected figures for 2018/19 show this is now 59:41. Whilst we have work to do to get this down to 50:50, it is a significant improvement.
At the heart of our work of reform at the 主播大秀 has been the ambition to introduce a simpler, clearer pay framework for all staff, on and off air. I wrote earlier in the week about the Career Path Framework that we’ve rolled out, showing everyone where they sit in the organisation, how they can progress through it and what pay they should expect.
Since the start of the year, we’ve been consulting on recommendations made as a result of our On Air Review. The Career Path Framework plays a key role in how we can introduce a clear pay structure for these people, with pay ranges attached to job titles or job groups that are market-informed and appropriate to the 主播大秀.
As we’ve worked through the consultation, we have been able to show on air staff their proposed pay ranges, alongside a clear criteria for how pay reflects skills, experience and audience impact. It means that they not only know where they sit within their job pay range, but crucially, why. And, equally importantly, we have proposed an approach to defining time commitments for presenters, so that we can ensure a fair comparison between different time commitments, between programmes and different contract types.
Similarly to the rest of the organisation, we’ve proposed introducing one standard on air contract and simplifying allowances. We have also devised an approach for consistency in setting pay when people work on multiple programmes. The consultation is now moving towards the final stages, when we can start to begin implementing the changes.
For staff, we have committed to introducing six-monthly pay checks with managers to look at everyone’s pay, which we’re discussing with the unions. We’ve also introduced new pay principles based on the values of being fair, consistent, transparent, competitive and clear, helping to provide further concrete guidance around how pay should be managed across the board.
I’m confident that all of this will play a vital role in ensuring we’re leading the way on fair pay.
Donalda MacKinnon, the Director of 主播大秀 Scotland, has led a project into how we can help more women progress at the 主播大秀 as part of a series of reports examining what can be done to improve career progression and culture for BAME, women, disabled staff, LGBT staff and those from different social backgrounds.
Amongst the recommendations we recently published, we proposed doing all we can to support flexible working for all, addressing our recruitment processes to have more development opportunities and increasing training for managers to act as role models in setting the culture of the 主播大秀. The review received over 5,000 comments which clearly demonstrate the strength of feeling amongst staff towards the matter. As a mother of three myself, I’m only too aware of the demands of juggling work and childcare. We are committed to taking forward the recommendations.
And even once our current projects are complete, from introducing all proposals through the Terms and Conditions review to fully implementing the changes made through the On Air Review, our ambition is that fair pay will continue to play a pivotal role in modernising the 主播大秀.
As a publicly funded organisation, it’s only right that we lead the way and we’ll continue to strive to do it to the very best of our abilities.