Waterstones reveals gender pay gap amid wages row
Waterstones has unveiled its gender pay gap, amid an ongoing row over wages paid to its shop staff.
The median gap, which measures the middle hourly pay rate, rose by 0.2% to 4.7%. Waterstones said this was due to a decline in the number of women in its highest-paying roles.
The retailer said its mean gender pay gap, which is a reflection of the average hourly rate of pay, had narrowed by 2.2% to 11.7% as of April 5 2018.
It comes after Waterstones was embroiled in a dispute over pay last month, when a petition called on managing director James Daunt to pay the Real Living Wage to staff on the shop floor.
As of this week, the petition had amassed 8,848 signatures and was supported by an open letter signed by over 2,400 published authors.
I've just signed the open letter written by authors to the managing director of Waterstones asking for a Living Wage for all Waterstones staff. Join me and add your name now: https://t.co/HhbE9AVzPo
— Val McDermid (@valmcdermid) March 25, 2019
Breaking my Twitter hiatus to share this – which I've signed – to support Waterstones' booksellers and their right to a living wage. Authors owe everything to these people. You can't survive on a love of books. In the real world, you need a fair wage too. https://t.co/36KRwkB4AQ
— Matt Haig (@matthaig1) March 26, 2019
I have signed this online petition calling on Waterstones to pay their staff the Living Wage, because Waterstones staff are just the best people and frankly should be running country.https://t.co/XWVRTl2FVe
— John O'Farrell (@mrjohnofarrell) March 26, 2019
I've just signed the open letter written by authors to the managing director of Waterstones asking for a Living Wage for all Waterstones staff. Join me and add your name now: https://t.co/OdA58ZOSii
— Philip Pullman (@PhilipPullman) March 26, 2019
Mr Daunt defended the pay structure of the retailer, telling the Press Association that it was “simply not profitable enough” to increase wages across the board.
Gender pay gap data shows the percentage of women in the top quartile of pay decreased by 1.7% compared to a year earlier. Men account for 54.9% of top earners at the company.
Meanwhile, women occupy 67.6% of roles in the lowest quartile. They also make up the majority of employees in both the lower and upper middle quartiles.
All firms employing 250 people or more are required to report the gap between the average earnings of men and women by Thursday.
Other high street retailers have already submitted their reports. WH Smith said it had no gap on a median basis, but the mean gap was 20.2%
Meanwhile The Works reported a 5.2% median gap, equal to a year ago.
