ES Views Letter of the Day: Hampton is out of touch on pay gap

Have your say Twitter: @esviews Email: esviews@standard.co.uk
In the spotlight: Sir Philip Hampton has been widely criticised for his comments
31 July 2017
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

My colleagues and I were staggered to read Sir Philip Hampton’s comments that the gender pay gap at the BBC had arisen because women are “less proactive” than men at raising pay-related issues [July 27]. He said many men he had encountered in business asked for pay rises, but never had a woman ask for one.

The women we advise on discrimination issues often say they do not wish to put their heads above the parapet, especially if they have had maternity leave. In many cases they are grateful to have

their jobs and don’t want to rock the boat.

Quite apart from it being a legal requirement for businesses to pay their male and female staff doing similar work the same rate of pay, Sir Philip’s comments fail to recognise that if there is a difference in the way men and women position themselves for reward and recognition, then it is management’s responsibility to do something about it.
Jane Wheeler, partner, Hine Legal

Join the conversation: #esnewsviews

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in