Daniel O'Boyle
Sun, 7 April 2024
The business, which says it is “on a mission to empower all women", pays female staff 43p for every £1 earned by men (Sweaty Betty)
Sweaty Betty - the female-focused London athleisurewear brand that says it is “on a mission to empower all women" - has one of the biggest gender pay gaps of any company of its size in the UK, the Standard can reveal.
The figures show Sweaty Betty has the 90th-largest median gender pay gap out of more than 10,000 firms in the Government database, or the 11th-largest gap of any company with more than 1,000 employees.
The median woman at the company makes 46.2p for every pound made by men there, or 53.8% less. That puts Sweaty Betty in the bottom 0.4% of companies of its size for pay equality.
Looking at the mean instead of median, there were still only 21 companies with a larger gender pay gap than Sweaty Betty — and 13 of them were football clubs. Sweaty Betty’s mean pay gap was 56.4%.
Official figures show that lower-paid roles at the company are almost entirely held by women. Among the top quarter of jobs by pay at Sweaty Betty, most are also held by women, but this group includes a much higher share of men than its lower-paid roles.
Sweaty Betty’s large gender pay gap does not appear to be an inevitable consequence of the sector it’s in. Rival athleisurewear brand Lululemon, its most direct competitor, had a median gender pay gap of just 6%. Lululemon’s mean gap was closer though, at 38%.
None of the other companies of similar size with larger gender pay gaps operated in the fashion or retail sectors.
In figures published just two years ago, the gender pay gap at the brand was lower than the UK average, at just 10p per pound.
However, it rocketed in last year’s figures and continued to climb in the ones published this year. The rocketing pay gap came in the first year that the data covered Sweaty Betty’s takeover by US fashion firm Wolverine Worldwide, who bought the brand from its founders, Tamara and Simon Hill-Norton, for £300 million.
According to the Sweaty Betty website, the brand - which was founded in Notting Hill in 1998 - is “on a mission to empower all women through fitness and beyond”.
“This means finding more sustainable ways of working, making sure inclusivity is at the heart of everything we do, and investing in our community through the Sweaty Betty Foundation,” the website continues.
It is known for championing body positivity. Last month it launched a new campaign and brand goals that are “designed to lift women up”.
Sweaty Betty and Wolverine Worldwide did not respond to a request for comment.
Banker bonus gap widens as men awarded more variable pay than women at top financial firms
Simon Hunt
Fri, 5 April 2024
(Victoria Jones/PA) (PA Wire)
The gender pay gap has worsened across many of the City’s biggest banks in signs that men are reaping an increasingly large share of bonus pools, new figures reveal today.
The difference in average bonuses between men and women has widened in 11 out of 18 banks, according to government gender pay data analysed by the Standard.
Men now get more than 10 times the median bonuses that women do at NatWest, a deterioration on last year, while at Lloyds, the median bonus pay gap has widened by 21 percentage points such that women now earn 59% less than men. At Barclays, the bonus gap has worsened to 61%, and at HSBC it contracted slightly to 74% but remains among the highest.
Almost all US investment banks have seen their bonus pay gap worsen in the UK compared with last year — while at Goldman Sachs it widened to its worst in six years.
Supermarket-owned banks have also fared poorly, with the median bonus gap at Sainsbury’s Bank increasing by 25 percentage points to 71%, and Tesco Bank reversing a zero bonus gap last year to a 50% differential this year.
The EU’s bonus cap rule — which restricts the size of banker bonuses as a proportion of fixed pay — was axed in the UK at the end of October last year, after the move was announced by Kwasi Kwarteng during his short stint as Chancellor in 2022. That suggests men are disproportionately benefiting from the lifting of restrictions and the gender gap in bonuses could get even larger next year.
City Comment: Scrapping the bonus cap has only widened the City’s gender inequality
By contrast, London’s biggest fintechs and digital banks showed signs of significant improvement. The bonus pay gap at Monzo was zero for the second consecutive year, while at Revolut it was reduced from 49% to zero. At Starling, the first British bank to have been founded by a woman, the bonus pay gap skewed slightly in favour of women.
Revolut said its improvement was driven by an increased representation of women in the highest pay quartiles. That was the result of a new promotion policy, which elevated women’s representation from 35% in 2022 to 44% in the 2023 promotion cohort.
Janine Hirt, CEO of Innovate Finance, said: “It is fantastic to see that fintechs are leading the charge in closing the gender pay gap. This commitment to equality within their own organisations is directly in line with their drive to foster a financial services sector that is more inclusive and democratic with diverse customers and consumers at its heart.
“By championing gender parity, fintechs set a powerful example for the broader financial services sector about how greater diversity is key to innovation, progress and success.”
Simon Hunt
Fri, 5 April 2024
(Victoria Jones/PA) (PA Wire)
The gender pay gap has worsened across many of the City’s biggest banks in signs that men are reaping an increasingly large share of bonus pools, new figures reveal today.
The difference in average bonuses between men and women has widened in 11 out of 18 banks, according to government gender pay data analysed by the Standard.
Men now get more than 10 times the median bonuses that women do at NatWest, a deterioration on last year, while at Lloyds, the median bonus pay gap has widened by 21 percentage points such that women now earn 59% less than men. At Barclays, the bonus gap has worsened to 61%, and at HSBC it contracted slightly to 74% but remains among the highest.
Almost all US investment banks have seen their bonus pay gap worsen in the UK compared with last year — while at Goldman Sachs it widened to its worst in six years.
Supermarket-owned banks have also fared poorly, with the median bonus gap at Sainsbury’s Bank increasing by 25 percentage points to 71%, and Tesco Bank reversing a zero bonus gap last year to a 50% differential this year.
The EU’s bonus cap rule — which restricts the size of banker bonuses as a proportion of fixed pay — was axed in the UK at the end of October last year, after the move was announced by Kwasi Kwarteng during his short stint as Chancellor in 2022. That suggests men are disproportionately benefiting from the lifting of restrictions and the gender gap in bonuses could get even larger next year.
City Comment: Scrapping the bonus cap has only widened the City’s gender inequality
By contrast, London’s biggest fintechs and digital banks showed signs of significant improvement. The bonus pay gap at Monzo was zero for the second consecutive year, while at Revolut it was reduced from 49% to zero. At Starling, the first British bank to have been founded by a woman, the bonus pay gap skewed slightly in favour of women.
Revolut said its improvement was driven by an increased representation of women in the highest pay quartiles. That was the result of a new promotion policy, which elevated women’s representation from 35% in 2022 to 44% in the 2023 promotion cohort.
Janine Hirt, CEO of Innovate Finance, said: “It is fantastic to see that fintechs are leading the charge in closing the gender pay gap. This commitment to equality within their own organisations is directly in line with their drive to foster a financial services sector that is more inclusive and democratic with diverse customers and consumers at its heart.
“By championing gender parity, fintechs set a powerful example for the broader financial services sector about how greater diversity is key to innovation, progress and success.”
Councils failing to deal with equal pay claims could lead to disaster – union
Ryan McDougall, PA Scotland
Fri, 5 April 2024
The First Minister has been warned that local councils’ refusal to engage with equal pay claims could have “disastrous” consequences for Scottish communities.
GMB Scotland has called on Humza Yousaf to support the creation of a new specialist body to decide on such claims across the country and to enforce awards.
The union, which represents low-paid women workers across the public sector, said retrospective claims for hundreds of millions of pounds could bankrupt local authorities.
The warning came as Falkirk council home care workers, who are mostly women on low wages, begin four days of strikes on Friday.
They will also strike next Wednesday alongside Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire council care staff.
The strikes come after the workers rejected internal reviews of their pay grade, stating their role and responsibilities have increased significantly since last being assessed.
GMB Scotland secretary, Louise Gilmour, wrote to Mr Yousaf, asking for a new specialist body to decide on equal pay claims across the country, stating local authorities are not doing so.
She said: “Scotland’s councils are approaching equal pay claims like the Titanic approaching the iceberg.
GMB Scotland Secretary Louise Gilmour (Andy Cawley/PA)
“Councillors have their heads in the sand and executives have their fingers in their ears but these equal pay claims will come, will be won, and will need to be settled.
“It is understandable that our councils are refusing to acknowledge the reality because the reality is unthinkable and the scale of these claims unimaginable for local authorities already being forced to cut services.
“Women who have been underpaid for far too long will still win these claims, however, and, unless that process is properly managed now, the impact on our councils and the communities they serve could be disastrous.”
Many of the women striking have said their roles and responsibilities have been undervalued for decades when compared to their male colleagues.
They have argued a higher pay grade could be retrospectively applied, allowing them to claim up to five years’ back pay.
GMB has estimated this could cost councils hundreds of millions of pounds in compensation.
GMB Scotland already has equal pay campaigns underway in Dundee, Perth and Kinross, Angus, Fife and Moray councils, with a process expected to lead to pay reviews in more than a dozen other local authorities across Scotland.
Glasgow City Council has sold multiple assets, including Kelvingrove Art Gallery and the City Chambers, to settle an initial £770 million equal pay bill.
Ms Gilmour warned against any suggestion that low-paid women are somehow responsible for the possible financial emergency.
She said: “Blaming equal pay claims instead of the systematic pay discrimination that has prevailed in our councils for generations is as dishonest as it is disgraceful.
“It is an attempt at emotional blackmail to persuade women workers that they are somehow being greedy and risking men’s jobs by simply asking for what they are due and have been due for years and years.
“The financial crisis facing Scotland’s local councils is not about women, it is about fairness and has been too long coming.
“Equal pay is not going away. It is incumbent on trade unions and politicians of all parties to learn the mistakes of the past so they are never repeated.”
A spokesperson for Falkirk Health and Social Care Partnership said: “We are advising those receiving care, and their families, that our care and support at home service will operate on a reduced capacity during any industrial action by GMB Scotland.
“We are in the process of communicating directly with people supported by our service to advise of likely disruption to their care.
“Falkirk Council is committed to upholding equal pay and continues to engage with GMB. We will seek to minimise disruption for those in need of our care and support at home services”.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Councils are responsible for meeting their legal obligations to their employees, including on equal pay.
“In the face of a profoundly challenging financial situation, the Scottish Government is making available record funding of more than £14 billion to councils in 2024-25 – a real-terms increase of 2.5% compared with the previous year”.
A Renfrewshire Council spokesperson said: “We are actively engaged in discussions with trade unions to seek a resolution to the ongoing dispute and remain committed to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of all of our service users.”
West Dunbartonshire Council has been contacted for comment.
Ryan McDougall, PA Scotland
Fri, 5 April 2024
The First Minister has been warned that local councils’ refusal to engage with equal pay claims could have “disastrous” consequences for Scottish communities.
GMB Scotland has called on Humza Yousaf to support the creation of a new specialist body to decide on such claims across the country and to enforce awards.
The union, which represents low-paid women workers across the public sector, said retrospective claims for hundreds of millions of pounds could bankrupt local authorities.
The warning came as Falkirk council home care workers, who are mostly women on low wages, begin four days of strikes on Friday.
They will also strike next Wednesday alongside Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire council care staff.
The strikes come after the workers rejected internal reviews of their pay grade, stating their role and responsibilities have increased significantly since last being assessed.
GMB Scotland secretary, Louise Gilmour, wrote to Mr Yousaf, asking for a new specialist body to decide on equal pay claims across the country, stating local authorities are not doing so.
She said: “Scotland’s councils are approaching equal pay claims like the Titanic approaching the iceberg.
GMB Scotland Secretary Louise Gilmour (Andy Cawley/PA)
“Councillors have their heads in the sand and executives have their fingers in their ears but these equal pay claims will come, will be won, and will need to be settled.
“It is understandable that our councils are refusing to acknowledge the reality because the reality is unthinkable and the scale of these claims unimaginable for local authorities already being forced to cut services.
“Women who have been underpaid for far too long will still win these claims, however, and, unless that process is properly managed now, the impact on our councils and the communities they serve could be disastrous.”
Many of the women striking have said their roles and responsibilities have been undervalued for decades when compared to their male colleagues.
They have argued a higher pay grade could be retrospectively applied, allowing them to claim up to five years’ back pay.
GMB has estimated this could cost councils hundreds of millions of pounds in compensation.
GMB Scotland already has equal pay campaigns underway in Dundee, Perth and Kinross, Angus, Fife and Moray councils, with a process expected to lead to pay reviews in more than a dozen other local authorities across Scotland.
Glasgow City Council has sold multiple assets, including Kelvingrove Art Gallery and the City Chambers, to settle an initial £770 million equal pay bill.
Ms Gilmour warned against any suggestion that low-paid women are somehow responsible for the possible financial emergency.
She said: “Blaming equal pay claims instead of the systematic pay discrimination that has prevailed in our councils for generations is as dishonest as it is disgraceful.
“It is an attempt at emotional blackmail to persuade women workers that they are somehow being greedy and risking men’s jobs by simply asking for what they are due and have been due for years and years.
“The financial crisis facing Scotland’s local councils is not about women, it is about fairness and has been too long coming.
“Equal pay is not going away. It is incumbent on trade unions and politicians of all parties to learn the mistakes of the past so they are never repeated.”
A spokesperson for Falkirk Health and Social Care Partnership said: “We are advising those receiving care, and their families, that our care and support at home service will operate on a reduced capacity during any industrial action by GMB Scotland.
“We are in the process of communicating directly with people supported by our service to advise of likely disruption to their care.
“Falkirk Council is committed to upholding equal pay and continues to engage with GMB. We will seek to minimise disruption for those in need of our care and support at home services”.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Councils are responsible for meeting their legal obligations to their employees, including on equal pay.
“In the face of a profoundly challenging financial situation, the Scottish Government is making available record funding of more than £14 billion to councils in 2024-25 – a real-terms increase of 2.5% compared with the previous year”.
A Renfrewshire Council spokesperson said: “We are actively engaged in discussions with trade unions to seek a resolution to the ongoing dispute and remain committed to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of all of our service users.”
West Dunbartonshire Council has been contacted for comment.
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