New regulations introduced under the U.K. Equality Act have forced thousands of the biggest companies in the world to reveal significant gender pay gaps — and some of the biggest offenders are companies you know and love.
Under the act, companies with 250 or more employees in the U.K. were required to report statistics on how women and men are compensated earlier this month, revealing staggering disparities at companies like Apple, Conde Nast and Ryanair, as well as thousands of other companies.
The results are jarring — but unsurprising. Though pay structures vary across industries and can be deeply affected by a business' culture, the gender pay gap impacts almost every industry and at some companies, men are paid more than 50 percent more than women. According to the Office of National Statistics, the gap for median earnings in Britain overall is 18.4 percent.
Here are 10 companies with lots of room for improvement:
- Women's mean hourly rate is 26 percent lower than men's
- Women's median hourly rate is 24 percent lower than men's
- Women's mean bonus pay is 50 percent lower than men's
- Women's median bonus pay is 57 percent lower than men's
- Women's mean hourly rate is 26 percent lower than men's
- Women's median hourly rate is 14.2 percent lower than men's
- Women's mean bonus pay is 60.1 percent lower than men's
- Women's median bonus pay is 46.9 percent lower than men's
- Women's mean hourly rate is 35 percent lower than men's
- Women's median hourly rate is 10 percent lower than men's
- Women's mean bonus pay is 20 percent lower than men's
- Women's median bonus pay is 19 percent higher than men's
- Women's mean hourly rate is 75.4 percent lower than men's
- Women's median hourly rate is 75.7 percent lower than men's
- Women's mean hourly rate is 36.9 percent lower than men's
- Women's median hourly rate is 23.3 percent lower than men's
- Women's mean bonus pay is 10.6 percent lower than men's
- Women's median bonus pay is 0 percent lower than men's
- Women's mean hourly rate is 59 percent lower than men's
- Women's median hourly rate is 29 percent lower than men's
- Women's mean bonus pay is 86 percent lower than men's
- Women's median bonus pay is 61 percent lower than men's
- Women's mean hourly rate is 53 percent lower than men's
- Women's median hourly rate is 46 percent lower than men's
- Women's mean bonus pay is 64 percent lower than men's
- Women's median bonus pay is 73 percent lower than men's
- Women's mean hourly rate is 23.6 percent lower than men's
- Women's median hourly rate is 25.8 percent lower than men's
- Women's mean bonus pay is 56 percent lower than men's
- Women's median bonus pay is 41.4 percent lower than men's
- Women's mean hourly rate is 67 percent lower than men's
- Women's median hourly rate is 71.8 percent lower than men's
- Women's mean bonus pay is 20.6 percent lower than men's
- Women's median bonus pay is 3.4 percent lower than men's
- Women's mean hourly rate is 57.9 percent lower than men's
- Women's median hourly rate is 28.4 percent lower than men's
- Women's mean bonus pay is 61.5 percent lower than men's
- Women's median bonus pay is 44.7 percent lower than men's
Surprisingly, lingerie retailer Boux Avenue reported one of the biggest pay gaps, with women at the company earning 75.4 percent less than men, on average. In other words, when comparing mean hourly rates, women earn 25p for every £1 that men earn (or about $0.36 to $1.43), even though over 90 percent of the company's employees are women.
Budget airline Ryanair also had a giant pay gap, with women's average hourly rate coming in 67 percent lower than men's, and women earning bonuses that were 20.6 percent lower than their male coworkers'. According to The Guardian, just eight of Ryanair's 554 UK-based pilots are women.
"In recent years, the number of female pilots applying to Ryanair has increased and we are committed to developing this welcome trend," Ryanair says in a statement sent to CNBC Make It. "It is a feature of the aviation industry that more males than females choose to enter the pilot profession."
Pepsico notes that the food and beverage company actually has four entities in the United Kingdom and that pay gaps vary according to the entity.
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