New research has found that twice as many male professionals are likely to ask for a pay rise than their female counterparts.
In its latest whitepaper, Cendex, part of XpertHR, discovered that 23% of men are likely to request a wage increase compared with just 11% of women, raising the potential of a gender pay gap in the UK. Entry level male employees (10%) are more than twice as likely as a female C-suite (4%) to ask for a pay review.
Almost half (47%) of HR professionals said their staff request a pay review on an annual basis, with 7.8% doing so every six months. Sales, media and marketing employees are more likely to ask for a monthly salary review than all other industries surveyed. Additionally, those in the IT and telecoms sector were the most likely to request a quarterly one.
According to Cendex, that the survey highlighted the importance of reward benchmarking, particularly as many organisations are facing difficulties in recruiting and retaining employees.
Scott Walker, managing director at Cendex said that while it was necessary for some employers to put a hold on their gender pay gap reporting, he urged them to remain fully aware and act upon any pay inequality that has emerged.
He added: “With such a disbalance in pay rise requests, it’s vital that HR workers benchmark roles and understand the gaps in their payrolls. It’s concerning to see that women are still holding back from negotiating a salary review but it’s clear employers can do more to empower women in scenarios involving pay negotiation.”
Walker recommended employers use benchmarking tools to help them make informed decisions,to reassure employees that they are being fairly remunerated, and to help them take action to close any pay gap.
In light of the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, the deadline for reporting gender pay gap information was extended by six months to 5 October 2021.