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JamesApplebyTechnicalConsultantThesinglefguredifferenceThedifferencebetweentheaverageThedifferencebetweenmensandTheEqualityandHumanRightsCommissionProposedEqualPayMeasuresTheEqualityandHumanRightsCommissionEHRCareproposingamenuofmeasuresinorderfororganisationswithmorethan250employeestoreportitsgenderpaygap.Thesemeasuresincludebetweenthemedianhourlyearningsofmenandwomenbasicpayandtotalaverageearningsofmenandwomenbygradeandjobtypewomensaveragestartingsalaries.Themainbeneftofasingleheadlinewillalmostcertainlybethespeedandeasewithwhichthesefgurescanbeproducedhoweverwhetherthefgureisgoodorbadwithoutseeingthedatathatsupportsititisverydiffculttoformanymeaningfulopinionsonanorganisationspaygap.Analysingthemedianhourlyrateformalesandfemalesshouldbeaneasyfguretoproducehoweverthiswillnottakeintoconsiderationtherangeofjobsundertakenbymalesandfemales.Whilsttheheadlinefguremaygivelittlecauseforconcernitcouldbemaskinganumberofissuesbeneaththesurface.Thesecondoptionshouldshowmoremeaningfulresultsbutisnotwithoutitsproblems.Manyorganisationsdonothaverobustgradingstructuresthatallowlogicalcomparisonstobemade.Eveninalargeorganisationthenumberofjobsthatcontainbothmalesandfemalesmaybelimitedresultinginonlyarelativelysmallnumberofjobsbeinganalysed.Thethirdproposallooksataveryspecifcissue.Toproducethisfgurealonecouldbeverymisleadingasthereareanumberoffactorsthatcouldveryeasilydistortthefgurestheratioofmaleandfemalenewstartersandthetypeofworkthatmalesandfemalesareundertaking.Forexampleifanorganisationtakeson20cleaners10malesand10femaleswhoareallpaidthesameandthengoontohireamaledirectorthiswouldwithoutdoubtshowapaygap.Theexamplefguresaboveareactuallyallfromthesameorganisationthisillustratesthatthesamesetofdatacanproducewildlydifferentresults.Twoofthesefguresshowanorganisationthathasaconsiderablegenderpaygaphoweverlookatthedatainadifferentwayandonaveragefemalesarepaidmorethantheirmalecounterparts.WithoutdoubttheEHRCsannouncementisastepintherightdirectionbutforaslongasthisschemeisentirelyvoluntaryandparticipantscanchosewhichfgurestheypublishsurelyorganisationsaresimplygoingtocherrypickresults.8AuthorFindoutmoreaboutJameshttpsolutions.northgatearinso.co.ukjames_appleby