Gender Pay Gap Data

Gender Pay Gap as at 31 March 2023

* A minus figure indicates that the median pay for women is higher than it is for men

** For the purpose of reporting, market supplement payments are included as “bonus payments”

Narrative

In summary, the gender pay gap remains low and is easily within the parameters that might be expected for similar public sector organisations.

The quartile distribution is well-balanced in the upper quartile although staffing changes over the year has led to a reversal in profile in the upper mid-quartile with the proportion of men now being slightly higher than women for the first time in five years.

Women are now also represented as a greater proportion in both of the lower quartiles.

The overall median pay gap is now at its greatest since the start of data production. More men earn at or above the median than women. This may be due in a large part due to the recent structural reviews in Environmental Services in which a large number of posts, mainly in posts predominantly held by men, have been reviewed in terms of content and consequently grade (pay).

The fact that the overall mean gender pay gap remains low suggests that when taken as a whole, the average (mean) pay for female employees is similar to that of pay for male employees. The proportion of women in better-paid jobs does then seem to be healthy.

Although the data contained within the analysis is not a matter of concern, the organisation will continue to be aware of the need to aspire to a gender-neutral state in terms of both mean and median pay differential.

Although the mean percentage gender pay gap for bonus payments (market supplement payments) does strongly favour men, the median bonus gender pay gap strongly favours women. The percentages though are fairly meaningless due to the very small sample size; (three employees; one woman, two men). This small sample has skewed the statistics. Should market premia be used more due to the financial pressures that may be present due to the very competitive labour market then the equality impact of such “bonus” payments will need to be considered.

The organisation considers itself to be caring and recognises the complex needs of its employees through the practical application of supportive working practices.  Practical measures to support such statements include the adoption of flexible working arrangements implemented through its employment policies.  Other policies have also been introduced to support women in the workplace such as the “Menopause in the Workplace Policy”. The Equality Policy (Employment) was also reviewed in early 2021 and the Fostering-friendly Policy was introduced towards the end of 2022. This year the Council’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion corporate training programme has been launched with the full roll-out due in 2023-24.

Although the organisation does not yet have a neutral mean gender pay gap, the gap continues to remain low relative to many other businesses. This positive position reflects the organisation that we aspire to be; a fair place to work and one in which supportive employment policies go hand-in-hand with an established and transparent job evaluation scheme. A risk to the ability to further improve the mean gender pay gap is that the organisation is relatively small and the change in occupation of a few of the Council’s most senior posts could have a material effect on the outturn. A watching brief will be maintained each year and should the outturn worsen to a point of concern then an appropriate action plan will be identified.