Campaigners have formed a new group demanding fairer recruitment processes in the charity sector.
Show The Salary, which launched online yesterday evening, calls on charities to publish full salary details when advertising new roles.
It also demands an end to what it calls “other outdated practices” such as employers asking for details on previous earnings and demanding all applicants have degrees.
Closing pay gaps
The group told Civil Society News that it has chosen to keep its founders anonymous, but confirmed that its members are all paid staff currently working at charities.
Its formation comes after growing online pressure from campaigners including former Small Charities Coalition chief executive Mandy Johnson and Institute of Fundraising committee member Rosie Oldham.
Show The Salary’s website links to evidence from the UK and the United States showing that hiding salary details during recruitment contributes to the pay gaps affecting women and ethnic minorities.
The Young Women’s Trust, a charity which works on behalf of young women working on low pay or no wage at all, has previously argued that “making pay more transparent would make it harder for employers to, even unintentionally, pay men and women different amounts for similar roles”.
Pledge
The group has asked charities to make a public pledge to always “share the salary” of the jobs they advertise. Charities taking this pledge will then be listed on the group’s website.
Show The Salary also contacted a number of charities on Twitter last night, highlighting the absence of salary information in their job advertisements and inviting them to include those details.
'Calling out'
On its website, Show The Salary said: “The group has been born out of frustration at the lack of action being taken to address pay gaps and inequity in the charity sector.
“For all the talk of boosting diversity and inclusion, and addressing power and privilege, there is a real lack of action from so many. And this – showing the salary that’s in your business case/budget so all applicants can secure a fair wage – is such a simple one to take.
“Many fundraisers have been tirelessly drawing attention to this issue in recent months, but following discussions we've witnessed over the weeks or so, we wanted to take some of that burden, give the campaign focus and also create a website that can help others to drive conversations forward.
“So, we’ll be calling out those advertisers who are clinging to salary secrecy and therefore perpetuating pay gaps and inequity, and doing all we can to make them scrap this discriminatory practice.”
On its contacts page, the website directs visitors to donate to and promote fellow campaigners #CharitySoWhite, which it says is “working to make the sector a better place for all of us”.
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