Something for the weekend: As organisations across the UK prepare to fulfil gender pay gap reporting regulations due in April 2018, gender pay differences are firmly in the spotlight. However, fans of the hit fantasy TV show Game of Thrones can be reassured that their favourite actors and actresses are all square when it comes to pay, as many of the drama’s leading male and female stars each earn an estimated $500,000 (£390,800) per episode.
According to a list compiled by entertainment title Variety, actors Emilia Clarke, Nikolaji Coster-Waldau, Peter Dinklage, Kit Harington and Lena Headey all earn an estimated $500,000 for each episode.
According to the list, the same can also be seen on other hit shows. For example, Jason Bateman and Laura Linney, who feature in the new Netflix drama Ozark, also receive equal pay slips with Variety estimating that the actors collect $300,000 (£234,480) per episode each.
And it is not just TV dramas on which stars receive equal pay. Comedy actors Eric McCormack, Debra Messing and Megan Mullally, who star in the US television show Will and Grace, receive an estimated $250,000 (£195,400) each per episode. While Modern Family stars Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ed O’Neill, Eric Stonestreet and Sofia Vergara also earn equal wages for every episode, taking home an estimated $500,000 each.
Here at Employee Benefits, while we are celebrating equal pay for comparative work, we are still attempting to select our favourite GOT character; the Queen of Dragons Daenerys Targaryen or King of the North Jon Snow seem just as compelling to us...
