LGBT employees paid £6,700 less a year than straight colleagues
LGBT+ employees experience a significant pay gap, a survey suggests (Pexels)
LGBT+ employees are paid an average of £6,703 less per year than their straight counterparts in the UK, a survey suggests.
A poll of 4,000 workers by YouGov for LinkedIn and UK Black Pride found a pay gap of 16 percent between straight and LGBT+ employees.
The research, published to coincide with Pride month, found the pay gap stood at 14 percent for transgender colleagues, or £5,340 on average.
The results also found 65 percent of people believe their workplace is doing enough to support LGBT+ colleagues, but 44 percent of transgender staff say their employers should be doing more to promote inclusive workplaces.
LGBT+ discrimination is still prevalent in the workplace, the poll showed, with 21 percent of respondents saying they had experienced verbal abuse at work.
More than a third said they had seen homophobic behaviour and six in 10 said they had been made to feel uncomfortable while working.
Half of trans employees said they had experienced judgemental comments from colleagues.
A poll of 4,000 workers by YouGov for LinkedIn and UK Black Pride found a pay gap of 16 percent between straight and LGBT+ employees (Pexels)
The survey also found a quarter of all LGBT+ workers are not out at work, with 28 percent saying they feared being judged by their colleagues.
A further 14 percent said they felt their chances of promotion would be hindered if they were to come out and of those polled, 47 percent said they had no plans to come out in the future.
The research calls for more to be done to improve diversity and inclusion in the workplace, with 68 percent of respondents wanting more support at work.
Around 60 percent of those surveyed said they wanted more transparency around company inclusion policies.
Joshua Graff, UK country manager at LinkedIn, who commissioned the research, said he came out at work later than when he came out to friends and family.
“Concealing such a huge part of your life from colleagues can be extremely stressful and takes up energy that could be spent excelling at your job,” he said.
“Pride is a fantastic celebration of how far LGBTQ rights have progressed, but the stories shared by LinkedIn members and the results of this research shows that we still have a long way to go.”
The research follows a rise in LinkedIn members posting about being “out” at work during Pride month.
