Female BBC manager publicly declines promotion after finding out she had been offered £12,000 less than a man awarded the SAME job on the same day
- Karen Martin issued a public slap-down in an email to hundreds of colleagues
- She was offered role of co-deputy editor along with long-serving Roger Sawyer
- BBC is currently being investigated by the equality watchdog over pay disparity
A BBC manager has refused a promotion after discovering that her proposed salary is £12,000 less than her male counterpart who has an identical job.
Karen Martin issued a public slap-down to the broadcaster today when she emailed hundreds of her colleagues explaining why she would be turning down the role of deputy editor.
The revelation that she is to be paid thousands less than co-deputy editor Roger Sawyer is the latest accusation of unequal pay to hit the embattled state-owned news provider, which is currently under investigation by the equality watchdog.
BBC manager Karen Martin has refused a promotion after discovering that her proposed salary is £12,000 less than her male counterpart who has an identical job
The BBC (London headquarters pictured) maintain that her new salary had been calculated fairly and reflects Roger Sawyer’s many years in the position
In an email, Ms Martin said: ‘Despite being awarded the same job, on the same day, after the same board, during the same recruitment process, BBC News asked me to accept a considerably lower salary than my male counterpart,’ according to the BBC website.
‘I’ve been assured our roles and responsibilities are the same. I’ve also been told my appointment was “very well deserved”. It’s just that I’m worth £12,000 less.’
But the BBC maintain that her new salary had been calculated fairly and reflected Mr Sawyer’s many years in the position.
Gavin Allen, the BBC’s head of news output, said: ‘We took into account the fact that Roger has worked at or above this level for several years, whereas Karen was offered this role as a promotion, with a significant pay increase.
In an email, Ms Martin said: ‘Despite being awarded the same job, on the same day, after the same board, during the same recruitment process, BBC News asked me to accept a considerably lower salary than my male counterpart
‘We think most people would understand that these factors would result in some difference between their individual pay.’
The bombshell publication of the broadcaster’s top-earner’s pay packets in 2017 sparked criticism after it exposed a stark gender pay gap.
This also caused the BBC’s China editor Carrie Gracie to quit the organisation because she discovered she was being paid less than her North America counterpart, Jon Sopel.
The fallout also saw presenters Jeremy Vine and John Humphreys take pay cuts to shrink the gender pay gap.
The fallout of a bombshell publication of the broadcaster’s top-earner’s pay packets also saw Radio 4 presenter John Humphreys take pay cuts to shrink the gender salary gap
And the apparent wage disparity between men and women led to the Equality and Human Rights Commission announcing a probe of the BBC.
Sam Smethers, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, told MailOnline: ‘This is extremely depressing. The BBC is under investigation for pay discrimination then compounds the problem by repeating it.
‘Nearly fifty years on from the Equal Pay Act women all over the UK are still having to fight for their basic right to be paid equally for doing equal work.
‘That this is still happening at our leading broadcaster even after Carrie Gracie’s win against them reveals a culture of complacency. This has to change.’