A group of female MPs have come together to help women across the country tackle the gender pay gap.
By this Wednesday, 4th April, every company with 250 employees or more will have revealed exactly how pronounced their gender pay gap is. The #PayMeToo campaign, which launches a social media campaign and website today, aims to encourage women to "hold [their employers] to account for what they are doing to tackle this gap."
The campaign is being led by Stella Creasy, Labour MP for Walthamstow, with support from female MPs representing almost all of the UK's major political parties. Fellow Labour MPs Jess Phillips and Lucy Powell, Conservative MP Nicky Morgan, Liberal Democrats Jo Swinson, Christine Jardine and Layla Moran, the SNP’s Hannah Bardell and Plaid Cymru’s Liz Saville Roberts are all on board.
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“Women are already telling us that they are being told not to ask difficult questions about this for fear of affecting their careers and we want to be clear that trying to silence employees isn’t the right response,” Creasy told The Guardian.
“Every woman has her own story of experiencing pay discrimination in their careers including me – now they need to know they have MPs ready to listen to them and act.”
The campaign comes just weeks after it was revealed that some companies are using legal but morally outrageous loopholes to make their gender pay gaps appear smaller than they actually are. Meanwhile, other companies have already disclosed shockingly large gender pay gaps.
The #PayMeToo website includes a handy guide offering advice on what to do after you discover your company's gender pay gap. As part of the campaign, Creasy and her fellow MPs are also urging women to complete an anonymous #PayMeToo survey whose results will help them lobby more effectively in Parliament. You can fill it out here.
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