It’s a sin! ‘Unethical firms’ lead way on gender pay

So-called sinful companies, which sell tobacco and alcohol and are shunned by ethical investors, are unlikely standard bearers in the fight to close the gender pay gap.

Despite the constant push for equality, men still earn more than women in most companies and organizations.

But cigarette maker British American Tobacco goes above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to pay for men and women, according to research among major British companies.

On average, the FTSE 100 company pays its female employees £1.17 for every £1 earned by their male equivalents.

Guinness owner Diageo, whose brands include Johnnie Walker whiskey and Smirnoff vodka, isn’t far behind.

Women typically earn 16 percent more than men, or £1.16 on every £1, at the company, which is led by CEO Debra Crew.

Consumer goods companies Reckitt and Unilever, along with pharmaceutical giant GSK, make up the rest of the top five.

The gender pay gap remains at 9.4 percent in favor of men – the same as five years ago when companies first had to publish figures.

All sectors still pay men more than women, but some are worse than others, with banking and finance, construction and education among the biggest offenders. Wealth manager St James’s Place pays women 64p for every £1 paid to a man – less than any other major UK company analyzed by Utility Bidder, a switching advisory service, based on government data.

Others in the doghouse include three of the UK’s largest banks – Lloyds, HSBC and Standard Chartered – plus mining giant Anglo American.

However, Anglo American and St James’s Place showed the largest increase in women’s wages in the past five years. The research is based on the difference in average hourly wages between men and women. This is not the same as unequal pay – paying women less for the same work – which is illegal.

Businesses, charities and government departments with 250 or more employees must publish their gender pay gap on a government website.

Utility Bidder said: ‘Many companies have been proactive in improving the gender pay gap, but unfortunately some are still stuck in the past.’

A spokesman for St James’s Place said the company is ‘committed to continuing to reduce the gender pay gap’. It added that developing female talent “remains a top priority for the company.”

Anglo American said it was making “meaningful progress.”