Its findings are based on a study it commissioned on finance sector pay (PDF format, 1.67Mb, reported on XpertHR earlier this year [subscription required]) plus evidence from employers, employees, lawyers and industry experts. The Commission has also used its legal powers to force 50 employers to complete a detailed questionnaire on pay practices.

Most of the yesterday's press coverage focused on the Commission's statement that women receive on average 80% less performance pay than men in the sector (women receive an average £2,875 a year compared with an average £14,554 for men.

Although this is only based on data from 40 firms, it backs up the Commission's earlier study which found that average incentive pay for women is 79% of that for men in the sector (for the whole economy this figure is not much lower at 67%).

Virtually every aspect of reward in the finance sector is found to be wanting in equal pay terms by the Commission.

For instance, it highlights:

• Major gender differences in starting salaries, showing that historical legacies cannot be blamed;
• Low take-up of equal pay reviews (only 23% of firms had done one), despite the fact that some banks have been high-profile early-adopters [subscription required];
• The concentration of women in lower-paid jobs (and those which are not seen as directly revenue-generating so do not attract significant performance pay) with a tendency for them to become stuck there; and
• Significant gender pay gaps among employees in the same job grade or category, suggesting a failure to ensure equal pay for equal work.

See the press release (on the EHRC website) for a list of the Commission's recommendations.

Last month, the Commission launched a consultation on voluntary pay gap reporting in the private sector.

For companies looking at conducting an equal pay review the XpertHR job pricing service powered by Celre is a good place to start.