The annual income of UK LGBT+ workers is on average almost £7,000 less than their straight counterparts, new research shows.
Data released today shows LGBT+ professionals face a 16 per cent pay gap between their straight colleagues - the equivalent of £6,703.
The study of 4,000 conducted by YouGov on behalf of LinkedIn, indicated prejudice was still prevalent in the workplace. 21 per cent of LGBT+ respondents said they had been verbally abused in the office with two thirds (61 per cent) of LGBT+ workers saying they had been made to feel uncomfortable at work.
The data shows 35 per cent of the LGBT+ community have witnessed homophobic behaviour at work. Interestingly, just 8 per cent of straight respondents said they had witnessed a colleague discriminated against or treated differently.
Of the respondents surveyed who are not open about their sexuality at work, over a quarter (28 per cent) cited fear of judgement as their main reason. 14 per cent felt their chance of promotion would be hindered if they were to come out.
Furthermore, 47 per cent said they had no plans to come out in the future, and a further 17 per cent say they don’t want to be the first person to do so in office.
According to the study, Females were more likely to hide their sexuality than men (32 per cent compared to 24 per cent), with bisexual higher than lesbian or gay (46 per cent compared to 14 per cent).
The study also looked at the transgender community, where the income gap was 14 per cent, or £5,340. 20 per cent of transgender respondents admitted to feeling uncomfortable about their identity at work, while almost half (49 per cent) said they had experienced judgmental comments from colleagues.
Joshua Graff, UK Country Manager at LinkedIn, told the Standard he commissioned the data after the network’s members began discussing issues facing LGBT+ workers on the forum. It comes in Pride Month, with London Pride taking place on Saturday (6th).
“This research shows discrimination is still rife in the work place and we are a long way from equality,” he said. “Pride is a fantastic celebration of how far LGBT+ 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.”
