Bridging the Gender Pay Gap in Law Firms

By (author) Stephanie Hawthorne

Publication date:

01 November 2018

Length of book:

71 pages

Publisher

Globe Law and Business

Dimensions:

297x210mm
8x12"

ISBN-13: 9781787422124

This special report focuses on law firms' gender pay gaps with statistics from the top 50 law firms. This follows the new UK government regulations that came into force in April 2017 which required statutory reporting of the gender pay gap for the first time. The report analyses what individual law firms are doing to fix the gender pay gap, including work allocation, mentoring, maternity support, parental leave, women's lawyers networks with analysis from HR directors and lawyers. The report also analyses the tricky question of whether equity partners' should also reveal their pay gap and the individual choices taken by leading city law firms. It also includes coverage of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee on what action is being taken to address the gender pay gap and comment from the TUC.This cutting edge new report will be essential reading for law firm management and every practitioner interested to understand the gender pay gap in law and how women can be supported in their roles.

Introduction 5 Gender pay gap reporting – the law 7 Spotlight on gender pay gap data 11 1. Results 11 2. Inadequacies 21 Gender pay gap narratives 23 1. Treatment of partners’ pay 24 2. The view from the coalface 27 3. The union view – what employers should be doing 29 4. The view from the Law Society 30 Achieving 100% pay parity 33 1. Barriers to parity 33 2. Closing the gap 35 Good practice in law firms 39 1. The view from a regional firm 39 2. The view from a Magic Circle firm 42 3. The view from a top 20 firm 43 Tackling the gender pay gap – government recommendations 45 1. Understanding the causes 45 2. Policies and practices 47 3. Setting targets 49 4. “What Works” guidance 50 Conclusion: Has the gender pay gap exercise been worthwhile? 53 1. Views on the ground 53 2. Time for effective action 55 Appendix I. Gender pay gap reporting: overview 57 Appendix II. Gender pay gap reporting: 63 make your calculations Notes 68 Acknowledgements 69 About the author 71

This is a major piece of fundamental research and analysis by one of the most experienced and able commentators in the Law. It is exceptionally well researched and written. I commend it to all who want to understand the true position in this very important field. It is truly outstanding.