ASOS named as one of the companies with the highest gender pay gaps in Britain

ASOS has been named as one of the companies with the highest gender pay gaps in Britain, according to the Times.

As figures reveal a second consecutive year of narrowing pay differences, the median pay gap dropped to 9.8% against 10% a year earlier.

However, the newspaper also emphasised that a vast majority of industries pay men more than women on average, with the pay gap widening in 12 out of 21 sectors. From an analysis of organisations, ranging from private companies to charities and government bodies, it was reported that the average woman earns 90.2p for every £1 a man earns.

Among the companies with a large median pay gap was ASOS, which had a median pay gap of 44.8% compared to 41% a year earlier. The fashion brand's pay gap "partly reflects a larger percentage of women working in roles such as customer care, which are mostly entry-level".

A spokeswoman from ASOS told The Times it was taking action to narrow the gap, "from hiring more women in leadership roles to working with our partners to empower female tech talent."

The gender pay gap is the difference in average pay between the men and women in the workplace. It is different to equal pay, which means employers must pay men and women the same for equal or similar work.

Employers in the private or voluntary sectors with 250 or more employees must publish gender pay gap data every year. Last year, the Equality and Human Rights Commission took action against 1,400 employers who had registered but failed to report by the extended October 2021 deadline. By 25 March 2022, 99% of the 1,400 employers had complied with the gender pay gap regulations.