Pay At The BBC: How Do We Solve The Gender Equality Conundrum?

The underlying principle is straightforward. If a man and a woman work in the same organisation and do equal work, the law says that they should be paid the same.

The recent resignation of Carrie Gracie as the BBC's China Editor has raised once again the issue of women being paid less than men to do similar work. This, in my view, is surely one of the most disappointing narratives in the modern business environment.

And yet, it is a recurring theme. We have had equal pay legislation in the UK for nearly 50 years, so why has progress been so slow?

Equal pay for equal work

The underlying principle is straightforward. If a man and a woman work in the same organisation and do equal work, the law says that they should be paid the same.

Ms Gracie's argument is equally straightforward. The BBC had four international editors - two male, two female. Ms Gracie and the other female journalist, Katya Adler (Europe Editor) were paid significantly less than the two male journalists, Jon Sopel (North America Editor) and Jeremy Bowen (Middle East Editor). She has maintained that, on this basis, the BBC is "breaking equality law and resisting pressure for a fair and transparent pay structure".

But how do you determine whether two people, performing what appear to be similar roles, are actually doing equal work?

The law requires a detailed analysis of whether they are doing "like work", "work rated as equivalent" or "work of equal value" (each of which is a very technical concept in itself). Even if an employee can demonstrate that one of these tests is met, the employer may be able to justify a pay differential if it can establish a "material factor defence". What seemed to be a clear picture quickly becomes a little murkier.

Pay at the BBC

It is, at the very least, strongly arguable that Ms Gracie's work as China Editor was equal to that performed by her male colleagues. As someone who regularly watches and reads BBC News content, that was certainly my own (albeit subjective) view.

However, the law may require us to question whether the Middle East Editor does a different or more valuable type of work. For example, might it be said that he should be paid more because he works more frequently in conflict zones and potentially operates at greater personal risk? Similarly, does the North America Editor deserve a higher salary, if it can be shown that the volume of news emanating from the Trump administration places greater demands on him or requires him to...