Our plan to close the gender pay gap

by Jennie Gollan
Posted on
7 years ago
2 min read

While the gender pay gap is smaller in Scotland than in the UK as a whole, there is still more to do to close the gap and reach equal pay.

Research suggests that it’ll take 100 years to close the gender pay gap – that’s not good enough.


Here’s how we’re tackling the gender pay gap in government – and fighting for more action at Westminster.

  • We are increasing transparency around the gender pay gap in the public sector. We will require all public authorities with more than 20 employees to publish their pay gap every two years and an equal pay statement every four years. And SNP MPs will call on the UK government to adopt the same procedures too.

  • At Westminster, we support changing the law to require gender pay gap reporting for all companies with more than 150 employees – down from 250 – and the introduction of sanctions – including fines – for employers that fail to comply with the law. We also believe pay gap reporting should cover race and disability too.

  • We will call for a change in the law at Westminster to ensure that any employer who loses an equal pay claim conducts and publishes an equal pay audit and takes appropriate action on the results.

  • We are championing the Real Living Wage. We pay all Scottish Government staff, including NHS workers and adult social care staff, the Real Living Wage. And there are now 1000 Living Wage accredited employers in Scotland – more than a quarter of the UK total.

    We also back a transition over the next parliamentary term towards payment of the Real Living Wage as a new minimum legal requirement to all adults above the age of 18, creating a new single adult rate.

  • We have doubled funding to support businesses led by women. Funding of £120,000 for the Investing Women social enterprise will support women-led businesses.

  • We are tackling under representation of women in leadership roles. We will legislate to ensure 50:50 gender balance in public sector boardrooms in Scotland by 2020.We will call on the UK government to follow the lead of the Scottish Government and commit to legislating for gender balance in public sector boardrooms.

  • We have established a women returners scheme, to support women to regain the confidence and skills they may have lost during career breaks.