BBC Salary Row: Gender Pay Gap

Despite the promotion of equal pay in the Equality Pay Act of 1970, the gender pay gap in the UK still remains broader than that of other European countries such as Germany, France and Italy. This has been recently further highlighted by the first release of the BBC salaries if over £150,000. Of the 96 highest paid employees, only a third were women.
The BBC has claimed the ‘multi-million pound’ increase is down to changes in accounting and the declining value of the pound, and rejected the claims of a gender pay gap.
According to James Watkins, employment lawyer from Slater and Gordon “the BBC could face millions of pounds in damages if a few women brought successful equal pay complaints against them…she will be entitled to the differences between the rates (if doing equal work of equal value)”. Some females feeling unfairly paid since the revelation are indeed looking to take legal action.
Due to being high profile figures in the BBC, their salaries are not just for their roles in their jobs but for their individual branding and their own image, as it is with the highest paid likes of Chris Evans and Gary Lineker.
However, all companies need to ensure all employees are given equal opportunity to develop their skills to increase their own market value as an individual. Therefore there could be a more even split between gender among the higher paid individuals.