Gender Pay Gap Assignment Sample

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Introduction

The gender pay gap is defined as a concept which assists in measuring whether equitable pay is given to both men and women within the workforce or not. In case equal pay is not given then it implies that there is gender discrimination taking place within the company. The present study is based on ASOS which is a fast fashion online platform and a cosmetic retailer as well. The company was established in 2000 in London and is operating a large clothing brand. The current report will outline the gender pay gap situation of the company. The current report will outline the analysis and status of the gender pay gap within the company. Also, it will discuss how ASOS tried to overcome the issue by applying legal regulation. For those struggling with such topics, assignment writing help is available to provide guidance and clarity. At last cost-benefit analysis and some of the recommendations will be provided to overcome the issue of the gender pay gap.

Gender Pay Gap Assignment Sample

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George Clark 9 Years | LLB

Main Body

Aim of the study

In the current competitive environment, the gender pay gap is the most common type of issue which companies are facing. The study aims to assess the reason for the gender pay gap and how companies can try to remove this from practice (Horton and Box, 2024). Companies that they effectively and smoothly must remove the negative effects of the gender pay gap. The gender pay gap is a situation where women are paid less as compared to male employees and this is discriminatory.

Overview of the gender pay gap

As the name suggests gender pay gap is the gap or the difference between the total payment which is provided to the male and female employees within the company. According to gender discrimination, women are always degraded by male employees and this is not good. There are many different types of situations where discrimination between men and women takes place like at the time of payment, during promotion or performance appraisal. This situation is not good as the discrimination among them is not effective and this affects the working conditions of the company and the employees greatly (Aharon and Shust, 2023). Within the UK, a high gender pay gap is reported and this implies that it creates a negative impact on the working of the company. With the different research, it was outlined that in 2023, the men are paid more in approximately 79.5 % of the companies. This outlines that around 79.5 % of the company is focusing on and implementing the gender pay gap within the company (UK retailers slow to close the gender pay gap, 2025). Also, this gap is widening as the hourly wage rate is 12.2 % more for men as compared to female employees. This gap was 11.9 % in the year 2017 and this implies that the gender pay gap is increasing greatly. In regards to ASOS, the company is also conducting a gender pay gap which is not good for the market position of the company. In 2022 April, ASOS was one of the companies which got highlighted for the gender pay gap within Britain. The media gap for ASOS was 44.8 % which was only 41% in 2021 and further in 2022 it increased to 45.5 % which is higher (UK retailers slow to close the gender pay gap, 2025). In support, ASOS clarified that this pay gap is because of the reason that it employs 3000 employees and the majority proportion is men and because of this, the gap is outlined. Further, ASOS also clarified that more women are employed in the customer care team and within that department the salary is paid low only (Duchini and Van Effenterre, 2024). Thus, this was the major reason clarified by ASOS for the gender pay gap.

With this, it is clear that the company is promoting the gender pay gap and as a result of this the working environment is not good. Thus, for this, the company must try to improve the situation and work on reducing the gender pay gap. When the gender pay gap is less then it will improve the overall efficiency and a good environment will be created in the company (Chen, Torsin and Tsang, 2022). This will promote a better culture in the company and resultantly better performance will be done. Hence, the overall working will be improved and ultimately the performance of the company will be enhanced.

Legal regulations relating to the gender pay gap

Further, there are certain types of laws and legislation which are applicable in the UK for controlling gender discrimination. It is essential for the reason that when the effective type of the laws and legislations are followed then it is helpful to the company in managing the working better. It is due to the reason that when a better and equitable working environment is provided then it results in improved development of the company. Moreover, there is better development of both the male and female employees (Aksoy, Özcan and Philipp, 2021). Thus, complying with the laws and legislation which deal with reducing the gender pay gap must be utilised and implemented within the working of the company. It is necessary for the reason that when the effective type of the laws will be applied then it will be assistive to the company in managing and improving the working well. These laws and legislation will help the company to improve its working capability and efficiency will be improved.

For this ASOS needs to follow the Equality Act 2010 as the provision relating to equal pay is covered within this act only (Equal Pay and the Law, 2022). Thus, this segment of the act guides the company that there must be an equitable payment made to both the male and female employees and this pay must be based on the capability of the employees. Moreover, the law states that both men and women must get equal pay for undertaking equal work. In case both the male and female are doing the same work then they must be provided with the same pay as they belong to the same category or class (Seitz and Sinha, 2023). According to the law, the equal pay law is applicable to pay and contractual terms. This includes areas like the basic salary, wages and pension, working hours, holiday pay, overtime, redundancy, performance appraisal, promotion and many other different aspects. For all these elements the company must effectively comply with these legislations so that they can try to control the gender pay gap within the company.

Cost and Benefit Analysis

The cost and benefit analysis is the one concept which includes analysing the cost related to the concept and the benefits which the company will enjoy after reducing the gap. Thus, here the cost does not mean the financial cost but it includes the negative impact which the business might face at a time when the gender pay gap is very high. On the other side, the benefits include the positive effects which the reduction in the gender pay gap might result in ASOS benefits (Newman et al, 2022). The potential cost of a high gender pay gap for ASOS includes the fact that employee turnover will be very high. It is about the fact that when the pay gap is high then employees will tend to leave the job and will switch to other competitors. Along with this another cost for the company is that their market value and brand image will also reduce. It is particularly because of the reason that when the gender pay gap is highly followed it will create a negative effect on the working of businesses and ultimately the overall development of the company will be hampered.

On the other side, if ASOS tries to reduce the pay gap then it will create a positive impact on the working of the company. It is due to the reason that with the reduction of the pay gap, the environment and company culture will be improved. Also, the high employee turnover due to the pay gap will reduce and employee retention will start taking place. Moreover, with the reduction in the gender pay gap the popularity and marketing of the company will also increase (Penner et al, 2023). This is necessary for the reason that when the effective type of the gender pay gap is reduced then the market position is also increased and as a result of this the overall company position is improved. This will assist in the future development of the company and will benefit ASOS to remain competitive in the market.

Recommendations

Along with complying with the different legislations and regulatory requirements, there are many different types of other strategies as well which can be used for the reduction of the gender pay gap. Hence, some of the recommendations available for ASOS to reduce the gender pay gap within the company are as follows-

• Firstly it is recommended to ASOS that they effectively showcase the pay transparency and another aspect as well. It is necessary because when there is no pay transparency between the employee and employer then the work will not be done effectively (Hoff, 2021). Thus, there needs to be an effective transparent communication system relating to pay and other confidential aspects as well so that employees are highly satisfied with it.
• Another suggestion for ASOS to be implemented is to conduct frequent pay audits. This is necessary for the reason that when timely pay audits are conducted then the deviation within the pay can be easily identified (Bennedsen et al, 2022). Thus, an effective type of pay audit must be conducted from time to time so that better decisions can be taken by the company.
• Further, it is advisable to ASOS that must focus on creating an inclusive working environment so that all the employees feel connected with the company. Working in an inclusive environment keeps the employees motivated and happy within the workplace (Hamidullah, Riccucci and Lee, 2021). Thus, the chances of discrimination based on gender and pay will be reduced and the company will be in a position to revive its capabilities well.

Conclusion

At last, it is concluded that the gender pay gap is not a good situation for the company and ultimately the overall capability and market position are impacted. The above study highlighted that in the UK there is a high gender pay gap and ASOS is also indulged within it. Further, it also listed that ASOS has having nearly 12.2 % pay gap and it impacts the working capability of the business. Further, it was seen that laws like the Equality Act 2010 need to be applied so that working can be improved and ultimately the situation of the pay gap can be controlled. At last, some recommendations were provided line creating an inclusive work environment, conducting a pay audit and many other strategies.

References

Books and Journals

• AHaron, D.Y. and Shust, E., 2023. Can gender pay gap disclosures make a difference? Finance Research Letters, 52(C).
• Aksoy, C.G., Özcan, B. and Philipp, J., 2021. Robots and the gender pay gap in Europe. European Economic Review, 134, p.103693.
• Bennedsen, M., Simintzi, E., Tsoutsoura, M. and Wolfenzon, D., 2022. Do firms respond to gender pay gap transparency? The Journal of Finance, 77(4), pp.2051-2091.
• Chen, X., Torsin, W. and Tsang, A., 2022. International differences in the CEO gender pay gap. Corporate Governance: An International Review, 30(5), pp.516-541.
• Duchini, E. and Van Effenterre, C., 2024. School schedule and the gender pay gap. Journal of Human Resources, 59(4), pp.1052-1089.
• Hamidullah, M.F., Riccucci, N.M. and Lee, I.P., 2021. Citizens’ perceptions of closing the gender pay gap: an experimental study. Public Management Review, 23(7), pp.1032-1055.
• Hoff, T., 2021. The gender pay gap in medicine: a systematic review. Health Care Management Review, 46(3), pp.E37-E49.
• Horton, R. and Box, G., 2024. Corporate Social Responsibility and the Gender Pay Gap in the UK—Beyond the Law. In The Evolution of the Gender Pay Gap (pp. 169-182). Routledge.
• Newman, T.H., Parry, M.G., Zakeri, R., Pegna, V., Nagle, A., Bhatti, F., Vig, S. and Green, J.S.A., 2022. Gender diversity in UK surgical specialities: a national observational study. BMJ open, 12(2), p.e055516.
• Penner, A.M., Petersen, T., Hermansen, A.S., Rainey, A., Boza, I., Elvira, M.M., Godechot, O., Hällsten, M., Henriksen, L.F., Hou, F. and Mrčela, A.K., 2023. Within-job gender pay inequality in 15 countries. Nature human behaviour, 7(2), pp.184-189.
• Seitz, S. and Sinha, S., 2023. Pay transparency, workplace norms, and gender pay gap: early evidence from Germany. Workplace Norms, and Gender Pay Gap: Early Evidence from Germany (February 25, 2022).

Online

• UK retailers slow to close gender pay gap. 2025. Online. Available through: <https://fashionunited.uk/news/fashion/uk-retailers-slow-to-close-gender-pay-gap/2023040568836>
• Equal pay and the law. 2022. Online. Available through: <https://www.acas.org.uk/equal-pay/equal-pay-law#:~:text=By%20law%2C%20men%20and%20women,the%20other%20sex%20to%20them>