London, (Parliament Politics Magazine) – The United Kingdom’s Minister for Women, Baroness Stedman-Scott, has launched a pay transparency pilot scheme to help break down workplace barriers for women as the country’s economy works to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Announced with a sequence of other legislative reforms on international women’s day (March 8th), the bill aims to help women close the pay gap within a variety of sectors.
The initiative will seek to improve pay transparency in the job application process and help businesses that want to attract more women into their employment.
The scheme will encourage participating employers to close the wage gap by publishing their salaries on all job adverts and by running ‘returner’ programmes that support women going back into STEM roles after taking personal time out like maternity leave. Baroness Stedman-Scott had the following to say on the new scheme: “The UK can only grasp its full potential by championing its brightest and best, and ensuring everyone, regardless of their background, has the opportunity to succeed.
“We believe that increased pay transparency will build on positive evidence of the role information can play when it comes to empowering women in the workplace. It is essential that we keep women at the forefront of the levelling up agenda as we recover from the pandemic and rebuild together. “Our second announcement, supporting skilled women to return to STEM careers after care leave, will keep talented minds in STEM and improve the representation of women and marginalised communities in those incredibly important roles.” she continued. By launching this new program, the government hopes to support women who are looking to return to work after an extended leave, particularly in STEM sectors. The 2021 STEM Returners index survey revealed that 61% of those surveyed found the process of returning to the industry a challenge.
In line with the government’s commitment to levelling up opportunities, a big part of the UK’s recovering from Covid economic plan, this new pilot programme will support returners across the four nations of the UK and will run for a minimum of two years while the government gathers data to build a profile that all businesses can use to help women in work across the United Kingdom.