BBC

Under fire
for
Gender Pay Inequality
An HRM Case Study
PRESENTED BY:
GROUP 1
OBED DARUWALA 20P016
AKSHAT SINHA 20P024
KESHAV GUPTA 20P026
PRACHI BHOOTRA 20P040
PRIYANK JHAVERI 20P042
SHUBHAM KUMAR 20P057
About the British Broadcasting
Corporation
• Established as British Broadcasting Company Limited in 1922 as a private organisation
• In 1925, company was liquidated and become a public corporation as the BBC
• By 21st century, BBC provided services in more than 40 languages having a global reach of about 120
million people worldwide
• It operates TV channels and creates programs in various categories like news, drama, arts ,
entertainment and etc.

Mission

To enrich the lives of people with programs that inform, educate, and entertain.
Samira Ahmed:
• Started her career as a news trainee in 1990 with the BBC
• Covered and worked as a reporter for variety of shows like The World Tonight, PM and Sunday Morning Live
etc. in her career
• One of the first journalist to study Islamic Radicalism on British university campuses
• In 2009, awarded the Stonewall Broadcast of the Year Award for her film on so-called “corrective” rape in South
Africa

One of the very few high-profile British Asian women at the broadcaster, became a feminist
icon and role model for women of colour
Issue at Hand
● In October 2019, Ahmed took the BBC to an employment tribunal, alleging failure to provide equal pay for
work of equal value under the Equality Act, 2010

Claims -
● Stating a comparison between herself and a colleague’s salary difference, Ahmed asked the
BBC to pay £700,000
Rationale -
● Her salary was £440 per episode of ‘Newswatch’ in 2012, while Vine received £3,000 per
episode of ‘Points of View’
● Ahmed salary increment was marginal and reached till £465 per episode in 2015
● Both the shows were just under 15 min in length and aired viewer’s concerns. Hence,
similarities are there between their work and both are doing a similar job

Before going to tribunal for making the claim, she submitted her grievances about unequal pay to BBC
management.
BBC’s response:
● Unsubstantiated claims of Ahmed’s show to be catering to “relatively niche” news channel
and ‘Point of View’ required the host to be lighthearted and “cheeky”
● BBC presented the above points as a source for difference in pay
● BBC also presented the pay negotiation emails to substantiate their stance of paying Vine
more and giving him a hike of 63%
● BBC acclaimed the shows to be in two different genres of news and entertainment
● Exclusivity clause of Vine’s contract to be a reason for higher salary

❏ BBC quietly ignored the overall reach of the each programmes which was higher for
Ahmed’s show
❏ BBC’s employment consulting firm Croner’s own pay gap was twice that of BBC
Equality Act of 2010 and Its Influence
All workers must receive equal pay in three kinds of similar works:
1) “Like” work, requiring similar skills to perform similar tasks with no practically important differences
Influence:
● Having a “glint in the eye” unclear description of a skill
● Difference in ratings not have any bearing on the similarity of work (Exhibit 2: Weekly Figures)

1) Equally valued, as per a fair job evaluation procedure followed by the company, in terms of demands
and dedication required from the worker
Influence:
● Both were 15 minutes long, and required reading prepared scripts from an autocue
● “No transparent and consistent process for evaluating and determining pay for its on-air talent”

1) Work of equal value, in terms of effort, skill, and decision-making

Influence:
● No reasonable difference in Vine’s work as any humour or tone was dictated by the cue
Verdict and Its Impact
● BBC had failed to defend itself against sex discrimation claim and attain vindication
● A history of controversies put the Company in bad light
➔“Silencing” victims of gender bias through NDAs
➔Most top earners male (Exhibit 3)
➔Quartile reports showed highest number of women in the lower end of pay (Exhibit 4)

● Case with Ahmed encouraged 120 other female employees to file similar complaints
● Carrie Gracie, BBCs China editor, resigned accusing the Company of secretive pay culture
● A parliamentary report derived evidence of opaque payment decision-making from BBC employees
● Caroline Barlow, a former head of product, made a settlement of 130,000 Pounds with the BBC
● It set a new precedent for setting up more progressive employee compensation rules
Recommendations -
● Acknowledgement of the gender pay gap issue and a public statement promising the rectification of the topic
within a stipulated time frame
● Regular voluntarily publication of the statutory gender pay report on a yearly basis to track and show their
improvements to gain the trust in the eye of the public
● To nullify the gender pay profiles, deserving high performing women can be promoted to higher pay profiles
and can be externally hired for the same
● A bucket system where similar job profiles and shows are clubbed together decided on the level of experience,
viewing audience and screening time to ensure similar jobs get the approximately same amount
● To ensure equal representation and fair promotions, each promotion is to be presided over by a board which
has equal ratio of men and women reviewing the application. This will ensure that the hiring and promotion is
based solely on merit and not on gender.
● Partnership with a more trusted consulting firm in terms of payment of wages and a more transparent decision
making in terms of wages would promise a sense of comfort amongst the employees
Thank You!