The BBC has apologised to news presenter Carrie Gracie for underpaying her and says it “has now put this right” by giving her back pay.
She is donating the full, undisclosed amount to the Fawcett Society, a charity that campaigns for gender equality and women’s rights.
Gracie resigned as BBC China editor in January in a dispute over equal pay.
She said: “I am glad to have been able to resolve this. It shows that we can make progress.”
The corporation said it had “reached an agreement to resolve their differences”.
At her request, Gracie will now take up to six months of unpaid leave and will take on writing and speaking engagements about both China and gender equality.
Gracie added that she is “delighted to donate all the backdated pay from the BBC to help women striving for equality at work”.
Director general Tony Hall said: “I am pleased that we’ve been able to move past our differences and work through things together; we can now look to the future.”
He added he was “glad” that she is contributing to a BBC project “to make the BBC a great place for women to work”.
“That really matters to me, and I want us to lead the way.”
When she resigned as China editor, Gracie said she had been dismayed to find the BBC’s two male international editors earned “at least 50% more” than their two female counterparts.
The BBC has now acknowledged she was told she would be paid in line with the North America editor when she took the role, and she accepted the role on that understanding.
The corporation said it “has now put this right”.
■ Gracie: ‘I could not collude’ in pay discrimination’
Gracie quit because the two editors earned more than her £135,000-a-year salary. She said she had refused a £45,000 pay rise because it still left a “big gap” between her and her male counterparts, when all she wanted was to be “made equal”.
She went back to a job in the newsroom.
The BBC said at the time that “fairness in pay” was “vital” to the corporation.
Fellow broadcaster Clare Balding tweeted her appreciation for Gracie, saying: “To donate all of the agreed backpay confirms what we already knew – she is not fighting the fight for herself but for ALL.”
On 26 January, six of the BBC’s leading male presenters agreed to take pay cuts following the revelations about equal salaries.
The BBC said Huw Edwards, Nicky Campbell, John Humphrys, Jon Sopel, Nick Robinson and Jeremy Vine had all accepted reduced wages.
Source: BBC news
