Campaign group launches to push for fairer recruitment practices
Melanie May | 4 September 2020 | News
A group has launched to campaign for fairer recruitment practices in the charity sector.
Show the Salary has been formed following increasing online campaigning in recent weeks for charities to address the issue of pay gaps and inequity. It is focusing first on salary secrecy, and is calling for charities and recruitment agencies to stop advertising roles without listing the pay.
Those behind the group are all paid staff in the charity sector who wish to remain anonymous at this stage.
It is asking charities and recruitment agencies to take a pledge to always Show The Salary. And, anyone who sees jobs advertised without a salary is invited to share it with the group or to tag them on Twitter so they can take it up with the advertiser.
Hi @RamblersGB 🙌
Your CEO vacancy looks great, but why the "undisclosed" salary when salary secrecy's known to perpetuate pay gaps?
With some basic detective work it seems to be ~£67k-£80k. Why don't you just #ShowTheSalary so all can access a fair wage?https://t.co/9vhrE7oid2— Show The Salary (@ShowTheSalary) September 3, 2020
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The group told UK Fundraising:
“Many fundraisers have been tirelessly drawing attention to this issue in recent months but 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.
“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. We’ll be collating resources so people can see the impact of salary secrecy themselves – and use them to challenge their own assumptions, their employers and their recruitment agencies. And we’ll be asking agencies (and we hope charities and fundraisers) to pledge to always #ShowTheSalary so fundraisers know where to look if they want to use an agency that shares their values.”
Alongside transparency over salaries, Show the Salary is challenging other practices that it believes are outdated, such as asking current or previous salary and requesting a degree when it is not necessary.
The group added:
“We want everyone working in the sector to receive a fair wage. And we don’t think that’s too much to ask. But, sadly, that can’t happen until we end salary secrecy in job ads and so that’s where we’re focusing first. We’re also calling on charities and agencies to stop asking for current/previous salary as this leaves people stuck in a cycle of unfair pay. And we fully support the brilliant #NonGraduatesWelcome campaign too. Once we’ve got these basics in place, we can then move onto the next steps around fairer recruitment.”
It has also created a website, where it will list those that take the pledge and which also includes links to resources and articles that can be used to challenge assumptions and practices.
More info here on why salary secrecy is a discriminatory practice here: https://t.co/lpVp37Ikcl
And we're happy to chat if helpful, just let us know who's best to speak with.
— Show The Salary (@ShowTheSalary) September 3, 2020
And – it has already had some success, with British Red Cross yesterday (3 September) updating a job description it had challenged with salary details.
And THIS is how you do it.
HUGE kudos to @BritishRedCross: action taken within a matter of hours, an honest and open response. And problem solved.
This is how quick it can be.
We'll be expecting others to follow suit and, obviously, to always #ShowTheSalary in future. https://t.co/xjdg3DmDvp
— Show The Salary (@ShowTheSalary) September 3, 2020
SEE ALSO:
- #CharitySoWhite hashtag trends on Twitter (20 August 2019)
- Non Graduates Welcome campaign group launches manifesto (25 September 2019)
- British Red Cross books entire staff on the first BAME fundraising conference (20 July 2020)
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.