The gender pay gap in large, non-public organisations in the UK .

The gender pay gap inlarge, non-public

organisations in the UK

www.equalityhumanrights.com

BackgroundThe Equality and Human Rights Commission opened on 1 October 2007 and took over the work of the three existing Commissions, including work on the gender pay gap carried out by the Equal Opportunities Commission.


BackgroundThe public sector already has a statutory duty to promote gender equality, including addressing causes of the gender pay gap.

From April 2011 public bodies with 150+ employees will be required to publish gender pay gap data.


BackgroundThe Equality Act 2010 provides the UK Government with the option of requiring some non-public organisations to report information on their gender pay gap:• private and voluntary organisations with 250+ employees• not introduced before 2013


BackgroundEHRC invited in Spring 2009 to propose ways of measuring and sharing information on the difference between men’s and women’s pay in large private and voluntary sector organisations, so securing greater voluntary reporting and as a driver towards greater transparency.


BackgroundEHRC given three specific tasks:• To carry out a structured consultation of stakeholders• To produce an initial baseline report and similar, annual reports for the next four years• To set out proposals for what companies should report on


Data sourcesTwo main statistical sources used:• Secondary analysis of data from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) 2008• Survey data collected from a sample of large private and voluntary sector organisations


ASHE Analysis• Main survey of earnings in UK• Data on individual employees are

collected directly from employers• Figures are published each year on

the levels, distribution and make-up of earnings and hours paid for employees within industries, occupations and regions


ASHE AnalysisMeasures of gender pay gaps:• The full time gender pay gap

compares women’s average full time pay and men’s average full time pay.

• The part time gender pay gap compares women’s average part time pay with men’s average full time pay.


ASHE AnalysisMeasures of gender pay gaps

(continued):• The combined gender pay gap

compares average women’s pay with average men’s pay, in both cases including full time and part time employees.


ASHE AnalysisBrief results:• Gender pay gaps (on all measures)

much higher in private/voluntary sectors


ASHE Analysis


Full-time gender pay gap (%)

Part-time gender pay gap (%)

Combined gender pay gap (%)

Mean-basedPrivate/voluntary 22.2 47.2 26.4Public 13.8 31.1 18.2Difference 8.3 16.0 8.2Median-basedPrivate/voluntary 21.6 49.8 30.8Public 10.9 39.5 21.7Difference 10.8 10.4 9.1

Pay gaps in the private/voluntary and public sectorsEmployees working for large employers, ASHE 2008

ASHE AnalysisBrief results:• Gender pay gaps increase with age• Women aged 40-49 and 50-59 and

working part-time earn around 50% less per hour than men working full-time

• The part-time gender pay gap is wider in the private/voluntary sectors than the public sector from age 22-29


Survey of businessCommissioned from IFF Research in

2009:• Establish baseline information on non-

public sector employers• Investigate how steps taken by

employers to measure and make information public on gender pay gaps differ by sector, size of organisation, and in England, Scotland and Wales


Survey of businessCommissioned from IFF Research in

2009:• Explore reasons for measuring or

making information public, or not doing so, among these organisations.

• Investigate what could be done to encourage employers to measure and make information public on their gender pay gap.


Survey of business• Telephone surveys with 900 private

and voluntary sector organisations with 250 or more employees

• Sample taken from around 6,900 organisations of this size and sector in Great Britain


Survey of businessResults – level of analysis taking place:• 43% of organisations had conducted or

were conducting some analysis of their pay gap. Another 14% were planning to do so.

• Around half of organisations have carried out job evaluation. 23% have completed an equal pay audit and 28% have plans to conduct an audit in the future.


Survey of businessResults - publication may be an issue:• Only 16% of organisations that have

completed an equal pay audit share the results internally, and this decreases to 6% externally.

• 20% of organisations discourage or forbid discussions about pay between colleagues and 49% give staff no information at all.


ProposalsEmployers encouraged to measure and share information on the differences between men’s and women’s pay on the basis of a choice from a menu of options.The options comprise one narrative approach and three which involve quantitative measurement of pay differences.


ProposalsThe narrative approach would explain the context, such as female participation rates; explore and analyse the causes of any gender pay gaps; describe workforce involvement in addressing the issues, and list actions being taken. Narrative would have to be combined with at least one of the quantitative measures.


ProposalsThe difference between the median hourly earnings of men and women calculated by reference to all female employees’ median pay with all male employees’ median pay. This will allow comparison with the public sector.


ProposalsThe difference between the average basic pay and total average earnings of men and women by grade and job type.

The differences between men’s and women’s starting salaries.


Next stepsThe Commission will be encouraging voluntary reporting straight away for all employers within the target group.The initial baseline report will be built on to produce the first Transparency Monitoring Report in November 2010, followed by further reports annually until 2013.


The gender pay gap in large, non-public organisations in the UK .

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