Closing The Gap

Gender pay and bonus pay gap disclosed by Facebook UK

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Jaap Arriens | NurPhoto | Getty Images

Facebook is one of the latest companies to publish its gender pay gap data for the U.K., with its figures showing a big percentage difference between its hourly pay rate and its bonus pay.

As of April 2017, the average bonuses for female Facebook employees came in at 39.8 percent lower than that of their male counterparts, according to figures submitted to the U.K. government. This comes as 87.8 percent of men receive a bonus, compared to the 86.3 percent of women who do at the U.K. division.

Looking at the mean hourly gender pay gap however, Facebook reports a 0.84 percent difference between the genders, meaning that women earned 99 pence ($1.39) for every £1 ($1.41) that men received. If you look at the percentages on a median basis however, the gaps differ, with median hourly wages showing a 9.92 percent difference, and bonuses showing a 41.5 percent gap.

As the debate over gender pay gathers momentum, companies around the world have been releasing their own reports on how much they pay each sex. In the U.K. however, it is now a legal requirement for those who have 250 or more employees to submit their data by early April. According to the Office of National Statistics, the gap for median earnings in Britain overall is 18.4 percent.

Employees have lunch at the canteen at Facebook's new headquarters, designed by Canadian-born American architect Frank Gehry, at Rathbone Place in central London on December 4, 2017.
DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS | AFP | Getty Images

The main reason Facebook gives for its pay disparities comes down to unequal representation. In 2017, women made up 35 percent of Facebook's global workforce, represented 28 percent of leadership roles and 19 percent of technical positions.

"To decrease the gender pay gap, we are working to increase representation of women in technical and leadership roles across the company," the company stated, alongside the reported figures.

"We have a strong belief in recruiting and retaining a diverse team, and in creating the culture of respect and inclusion needed for people to do their best work."

When it comes to pay, Facebook states that anyone who works in a particular role will receive equal pay for equal work, no matter who they are.

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As a target, the company hopes to establish 800 new roles in the U.K. by year-end. When it comes to advancing employee development, Facebook runs training programs and workshops on progress that look to offer support for women, in addition to tools to help those who want to take on leadership roles.

"We are committed to increasing the representation of women at all levels. We know we're not where we need to be, and we're committed to making real progress."

Earlier on this week, Google U.K. released its own set of U.K. gender pay figures, with the search engine operator revealing that female employees mean hourly rate is 17 percent lower than male employees.

According to the Financial Times however, only half of U.K. companies that are legally required to report, have published their figures. Public sector groups have until March 30, while charities and private sector groups have until April 4.

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