BBC Feminism Pay Row Kills Entire NHS Career Structure

There’s a very fun little row going on inside the BBC over pay. One woman is claiming that she’s been offered a job – same grade, same responsibilities etc – as a bloke and yet she’s being offered a different amount of money. Lower, obviously. Sexism! Patriarchy!

Management’s answer is that this is her first job at this sort of level, it’s a decent step up for her. The bloke’s been doing this sorta stuff for some years. Experienced bods get more than inexperienced, and?

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] In an email to staff, Allen said: “I regret that Karen has decided not to take this opportunity. I think it important to explain what has happened in this instance. “As you know, we don’t have fixed rates for jobs. Instead we have pay ranges as agreed with our unions. “In setting pay for this particular role we have taken the view that Roger and Karen would be doing roles of equal weight as Deputy Editors of the Radio Newsroom. “We also took into account the fact that Roger has worked at or above this level for several years whereas Karen was offered this role as a promotion, with a significant pay increase. “We think most people would understand that these factors would result in some difference between their individual pay. [/perfectpullquote]

Now, my own view about pay is that it’s entirely individual. And it’s damn all to do with what others are being paid. Going rate for job and all that. There’s only one determinant of “fair” pay for any specific job. Are you willing to do this job for this amount of money? Yes? Then it’s fair. Because that’s what the deal is, your labour for your pay. Fairness being that personal decision that you make about it.

All else is bunkum.

Agreed, much of the rest of the world doesn’t think that way.

Now think what must also be true if we are to reject the BBC management argument here. We’re going to have to kill off the entire NHS pay system. And that for more teachers too. Which are based upon annual and the like progressions to more money in the same job and pay band. On the grounds that people with more experience of the same job should indeed be getting paid more.

Maybe inexperienced and experienced BBC managers should be paid the same amount for the same job. Maybe nurses with more years in grade should be paid the same as nurses with fewer years in grade. Maybe pay should reflect experience in grade?

But we can’t go around demanding that experience counts for pay here and doesn’t there. Or is that mansplaining?