There is a yawning chasm in gender pay at the highest levels of the HR
profession, acc-ording to research released last week.
It shows the HR leaders, who Denise Kingsmill is calling on to tackle the 18
per cent gender bias in salaries, are suffering from a bigger pay gap
themselves.
The Salary Survey of HR Staff 2001 reveals a female HR director can
typically expect to earn 25 per cent less than a male counterpart.
Research by Remuneration Economics, which includes over 4,000 HR salaries
from 152 companies, also shows that average earnings for men in HR are higher
than women at all levels, except personnel assistants.
Madeleine Allen, HR director of Applied Impact Technology, said, "HR
must set the standards before it goes about changing the organisation.
"HR professionals are predominately women, so the issue is a real
problem if our pay is lagging behind male counterparts. Companies should pay
people on their value to the company and not by gender."
