An investigation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has found no unlawful acts of equal pay discrimination by the BBC following high-profile complaints by female presenters.
The EHRC's report, which was published on 12th November 2020, criticised the BBC's inadequate record-keeping, communication, and complaints system. The EHRC also recommended improvements to rebuild trust and increase transparency in the BBC's pay decisions.
The 'BBC Women' group of equal pay campaigners has called the EHRC's report a 'whitewash'. It has complained that the EHRC failed to address the systemic issue of unequal pay within the BBC (examining only a sample of ten complaints in-depth) and discounted the equal pay cases that the BBC has settled.
Despite being cleared the publicity has damaged the BBC's reputation.
How can you do better?
Decide whether you have a problem. Equal pay litigation is time-consuming and costly. Carry out an equal pay audit. This is a structured process enabling you to:
identify where men and women are doing equal work and compare their pay
identify and explain the reasons for any pay differences
eliminate any pay differences that are either directly or indirectly discriminatory.
