The pay gap between male and female HR professionals is widening, new research has found.
It also reveals that even when men and women do the same jobs, men earn consistently more money, despite the recent equal pay legislation. The findings are revealed in the third annual Personnel and Payroll Salary Survey by GEE Publishing’s Pay Magazine.
The survey was conducted among HR and payroll professionals in 491 organisations in the private, public and voluntary sectors during September 2004. It reveals that the higher the salary, the wider the pay chasm.
Sixty-six per cent of women earn less than £30,000, while only 40 per cent of men earn less than this. This gap of 26 per cent is an increase of 4 per cent on the 2003 survey.
Men take the lion’s share of salaries, with twice as many men earning more than £40,000, compared with 10 per cent of women. Similarly, more than double the number of men earn more than £50,000 compared with women.
HR professionals are still paid less than their counterparts in other fields. While the average non-HR director earns £108,938, the HR/payroll directors in the survey earned just £45,725. The differences are not confined to director level: an average HR senior manager earns £12,500 less than a senior manager in another field, while an HR middle manager earns £14,000 less their non-HR counterpart.
Anna Scott, editor of Pay Magazine, said: “The survey shows that the gender pay gap in personnel and payroll is widening. This is especially concerning in a profession where salary and gender issues are fundamental. HR and payroll should be leading the way in equal pay issues.”
Other findings include:
– The average salary in HR and payroll is £29,210 a year
– This has increased by an average of 3.69 per cent since the 2003 survey
– The best salaries are paid to those working in finance/banking/insurance, IT, telecoms and software houses
– The lowest salaries are paid to HR and payroll professionals in leisure/tourism, business services, and retail.
– The salaries of younger HR and payroll professionals are increasing as more enter the industries and push salaries up
– Fewer men have HR or payroll qualifications than women, but those who do have higher qualifications, and are subsequently paid more
– Thirteen per cent of HR/payroll professionals work more than 46 hours a week, and working hours are increasing.
