Latest gender pay gap report published
Our women employees earn, on average, 7% more than men, the latest gender pay gap figures show.
Gender pay gap measures the difference between men’s and women’s average earnings across the organisation. Our latest figures reveal that the average, or mean, gender pay gap in hourly pay is -7.3% (up from -6.03%).
The mean hourly rate for women working for the council is £15.06 (up from £14.88) and for men £14.03, the same as last year.
What the figures show
Women make up 60% of our workforce and more women have higher paid roles in the council. Of those earning basic salaries of £30,000 or more, 64% are women, compared to 36% men.
Our workforce equalities data shows women generally out-performing men in recruitment processes and being more successful in getting promoted.
Nationally the median gender pay gap shows men earning 17.9% more than women, reflecting the fact that more women work in lower-paid part-time jobs.*
Sixty-three per cent of women work part-time in the council, compared to 29% of men. Of those earning basic salaries less than £20,000, 51% are women and 49% men.
Response to the gender pay gap results
Councillor Emma Daniel, Chair of the Neighbourhoods, Inclusion, Communities & Equality Committee said: “These figures help to highlight the work we are doing enabling women to develop their talents and progress within the council, but any pay gap is still inequality.
“Over the next 12 months we will work to increase inclusion, equality and the diversity of our workforce. We want to position the council as a supportive and welcoming place to work for all our communities and gender forms part of our wider diversity agenda.
“As part of our staff programme ‘Our People Promise’ we are developing an action plan to better understand and address our gender pay gap and tackle areas of under-representation in the workforce.”
Family-friendly policies such as flexible working, career breaks, parental leave, discretionary leave and children’s vouchers have all helped to make the council an attractive place for women to work and develop a career. In 2017 98% of women returned to work following maternity leave.
How we report the figures
We are publishing the report to coincide with International Women’s Day on 8 March. This year’s theme under the social media hashtag #BalanceforBetter is focusing on improving gender balance in all walks of life.
Figures shown for four pay band sections, known as quartiles, reflect the lowest paid up to the highest in Brighton & Hove.
The Gender pay gap in hourly pay is also calculated in the middle to produce a ‘median’ figure. In our case the median (middle) gender pay gap in hourly pay is -6.7%, again showing women earn more than men (slightly less than last year’s gap of -7.29%).
Learn more about gender pay gap reporting
The data is based on an annual ‘snapshot’ pay period of nearly 5,000 council employees (excluding school based staff) who were employed on 31 March 2018 and casuals paid during that month.
All employers with more than 250 employees must now publish their gender pay gap report annually. We published our gender pay gap for the first time last year.
Learn more about gender pay gap reporting
What we will do with the information
Over the next year we will:
• Agree actions to reduce the gender pay gap
• Review potential barriers to recruitment to improve workforce diversity
• Engage with community groups and schools to raise the profile of the council as a potential employer for people currently under-represented in the workforce
Read the 2018 gender pay gap report
*Source: ONS