FEATURE
Photo by Gregorio Cavana on Unsplash Fair play for fair pay Should employers in the bike trade publish their salaries alongside
job ads? Alex Ballinger explores the impact pay transparency could have on the industry
“
I regularly check the BikeBiz jobs board to keep up to date with opportunities within the industry, but many adverts don’t post the salary,” said George Wallis, an Edinburgh-based bike mechanic. “Occasionally I will email interesting employers to see what they are offering, and will have to make an application to the position and have to go through the entire process just to find out what pay they are offering.” Salary transparency is often non-existent across many
trades in the UK, as employers prove reluctant to share their pay structures with the wider world. In recent years the debate around pay has been gaining
traction, with employees increasingly demanding more information about salary before applying for jobs, in part in response to the gender pay gap, and partially sparked by debate on social media. In the UK, employers must pay the National Minimum
Wage (up to £9.18 depending on the employee’s age) to any workers over the age of 22, and then the higher National
www.bikebiz.com
Living Wage for any employees over 23 - £9.50 in most of the country, or £11.05 in London. According to the Government’s National Careers Service, mechanics in the UK can expect to earn between £20,000 and £30,000, while some employers may offer as little as £14,000 to their workshop staff. But what impact would greater salary transparency have on the bike trade? Gav Hudson, owner of the independent store Butternut
Bikes in Crouch End, North London, is one cycle industry retailer who is passionate about fair pay. “Not only do we list our salaries, we also believe in paying
fairly,” said Hudson. “If we can’t pay an experienced and hardworking mechanic £30,000 per year, then we don’t deserve to be in business. It might come to this, but I would rather close the business than take advantage of cheap labour to make money for me (little chance of that!) and others in the supply chain.”
June 2022 | 7
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