WORLD / EUROPE
BBC launches staff pay review as gender gap angers women
Published: Sep 06, 2017 10:33 PM
The BBC is reviewing employee pay after it was forced to reveal that male stars were paid far more than their female counterparts, damaging the British public broadcaster's image and angering women employees.

The revelation in July that the BBC's best-paid male star earned five times more than the best-paid woman, and that two thirds of on-air high earners were men, generated a spate of critical headlines as well as internal strife.

"These are difficult and often deep-rooted challenges, and they are not unique to the BBC, but I see this as a moment of real opportunity for us," Director General Tony Hall said.

Hall said the corporation had commissioned a report on its gender pay gap, to be independently audited, which would look not just at top earners but at the broader picture across the BBC.

He said it had also launched an audit of equal pay covering UK-based staff, which was being carried out by the law firm Eversheds and auditors PwC.

"If it throws up issues, we'll deal with them immediately," said Hall, adding that both reports would be published.

BBC management had initially responded to outrage over the pay disclosures by pledging to close the gender gap by 2020, but that failed to satisfy irate women employees.

"The director general must be in no doubt about how serious an issue of equal and fair pay is for women across the organization," said a group of female BBC employees.