Earn your worth - Major Players are no longer asking for salaries in a bid to help close the gender pay gap

We revealed an eye watering 23% pay gap in favour of men in our last salary survey.

In a bid to help close the gender pay gap we are now no longer asking any of our candidates for current or previous salary information and refusing to divulge any of our candidates’ pay level when putting forward for jobs.

 It is totally unnecessary to judge someone’s ability or worth based on their last salary or rate and it can be a contributing factor for women reaching pay parity with their male counterparts. As the leading creative recruiter, we feel we are in a good position to make an impact and to start to help closing the gap through Earn Your Worth.

 Setting clear expectations for the role, outlining skills and experience followed by a thorough interview process should be perfectly adequate to assess someone’s ability to do a job. We are asking for our clients and other recruiters in the industry to stop asking for previous pay. We also feel that if you are applying for a job, then you should be given the choice as to whether you divulge your salary.

Tips and advice:

Joanne Lucy-Ruming, MD, Major Players

What should you do if you do if you are asked to reveal your current salary when going for a new job?

 Discuss only what you are looking for. Make sure you are knowledgeable on what the market average is for your position and be prepared with what makes you worth your asking salary. Make reference to the skills and attributes in the job description and draw comparison to what you’ve done previously referencing good examples.

What if your current company has a substantial gender pay gap, should you ask for a pay rise and how would you give as to how to go about it

Female employees should advocate for a pay rise if they are being paid less than their male counterparts. The right to equal pay is grounded in law and anti discrimination legislation. It’s a right, not a nice to have. Transparency between employees and employers is really key for trust. For larger companies it became law to disclose their gender pay gap on 4 April 2018. Your company should be happy to disclose if they have a gender pay gap. If they do, find out what actions they are taking to close that ie: working to clear salary banding etc.

How can your company start closing the pay gap?

Proper action is required by employers and recruiters to affect the pay gap. Hiring, performance and promotion processes should be made impartial and unbiased, not disclosing or requesting current salaries. Also mandating diversity for shortlists for hiring, putting staff on unconscious bias training, creating clear salary banding etc are all clear actions a company can take to help create parity.

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