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It is the Government’s aspiration to see diversity across the UK economy, and HM Treasury’s
Women in Finance Charter reflects our ambition to see an improved gender balance in
the financial services industry. So far, over 330 financial services firms have signed
the Charter, committing to implement strategic actions to improve their gender balance
in senior positions.<p> </p>Regarding wider work to improve diversity in the UK labour
market, we are supporting the government commissioned Hampton-Alexander review to
push for 33% of all board and senior leadership positions to be held by women by 2020
in the FTSE 350. Government also fully supports the Parker Review, which recommends
that FTSE100 and 250 boards should have at least one director of colour by 2021 and
2024, respectively. The Prime Minister also launched the Race at Work Charter and
a consultation on mandatory ethnicity pay reporting as part of a package of measures
to make the workplace fairer for people from ethnic minority groups. Over 150 employers
have signed the Race at Work Charter, including a number of financial services firms.<p>
</p>Equal pay for men and women doing the same work, equivalent work or work of equal
value, has been a legal requirement since 1970. The Government remains fully committed
to the Equal Pay protections in the Equality Act 2010.<p> </p>In 2017, the Government
introduced regulations requiring large employers across all sectors, including financial
services, to publish the differences in what they pay their male and female staff
in average salaries and bonuses annually. The gender pay gap is caused by many factors
and does not necessarily mean an employer has breached equal pay laws. Transparency
is key to highlighting gender-based differences in pay and enabling employees to hold
their employers to account, particularly where equal pay law may have been breached.
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