By Gavin Mackintosh-
The BBC are still engaging with staff to resolve a small number of outstanding cases regarding a gender pay gap, the Corporation told The Eye Of Media.Com today.
The Corporation said a number of queries about pay issues have not led to any changes, but that they have engaged historical issues about gender pay gaps to ensure a fairer and more transparent system than most organisations.
The revelations follow the announcement by radio presenter Sarah Montague , after she confirmed she won a £400,000 settlement and received an apology from the BBC following inequitable payments by the corporation for years.
In a tweet, the World At One presenter said she would rather not have been discussing her pay, but felt obliged to respond to “erroneous” reports in the press. She said the settlement followed “a long period of stressful negotiations”. Reports in some sections of the press claimed she had been settled £1m, prompting the presenter to clarify the facts.
Montague said she accepted the payout last year. The Today programme presenter said on twitter: “When I discovered the disparity in my pay and conditions, I was advised that rectifying it all could run into the millions.
“I chose not to seek such sums from the BBC but I did want some recognition that they had underpaid me.
“Last year after a long period of stressful negotiations, I accepted a settlement of £400,000 subject to tax and an apology from the BBC for paying me unequally for so many years.”
In 2018, Montague said she was “incandescent with rage” after finding out her £133,000-a-year salary for working on the programme was less than her co-presenters were earning.
At the time, a BBC spokeswoman said it was committed to closing its gender pay gap by 2020, and the corporation has been effectively working towards that end. Earlier this month, BBC presenter Samira Ahmed won an employment tribunal which she brought against the BBC in a dispute over equal pay.
Ahmed claimed she was underpaid by £700,000 for hosting audience feedback show Newswatch, compared with Jeremy Vine’s salary for Points of View. The unanimous judgement said her work was like that done by Vine, and the BBC had failed to prove the pay gap wasn’t because of sex.
A BBC Spokesperson said:
“We have made significant changes to pay and grading over recent years to ensure we have a system that is fair and more transparent than most other organisations.
Given this, we’ve unsurprisingly had a large number of queries about different aspects of pay and the majority of these do not result in any changes to individuals’ pay. Where we’ve identified historic issues we have been addressing them. We continue to try to engage with our staff to resolve a small number of outstanding cases.
However, mindful of our obligations to the licence fee payer, we will robustly defend our position at tribunal if necessary.”
Image:bbc.co.uk