Gender pay gap reporting 2019

What is the gender pay gap?

East Riding of Yorkshire Council recognises the importance of fair treatment and the positive promotion of equality for all employees. Under the Equalities Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017 employers with 250 or more employees are required to publish statutory gender pay gap calculations on an annual basis with effect from April 2018. The gender pay gap is a measure to compare the difference in average hourly rates of pay between males and females in the organisation. A positive gender pay gap figure means that men are paid more than women and a negative figure means that women are paid more than men.

The gender pay gap is not the same as equal pay. Equal Pay, which has been an entitlement since 1970, is whether an organisation is paying a male and female differently for work of equal value. The council pay men and women equally for the same work. The gender pay gap indicates whether there is a difference between aggregate pay of males and females throughout the organisation. A gender pay gap does not indicate discrimination.

The council is required to report two measures of the difference between male and female pay, the mean and the median. Mean shows the difference between average pay of male and female employees, meaning all salaries added together and divided between the total number of employees, while the Median shows the numerical value which splits the top 50% and bottom 50% of salaries.

Gender pay gap 2018

The total number of employees for inclusion in the 2018 reporting information was 5968 and the workforce split remained the same as 2017 reporting information (63% female and 37% male.)

On average for every £1.00 that a male employee earns a female earns £0.92.

The council's mean gender pay gap of 8.39% and median figure of 10.16% compares favourably when viewed in the context of the Office of National Statistics (ONS) current UK national gender pay gap mean figure of 17.1% and median figure of 17.9% for all employees.

From 31 March 2017 to 31 March 2018 the mean pay gap has decreased by 1.7% and the median fell from 12% to 10.16%.

>National gender pay gap (average)

The council’s pay gap is positive when viewed in the context of the current ONS national pay gap of 17.1% and work is underway to close the gap further.

Gender bonus gap

The relevant bonus period is the preceding 12 months before the snapshot date. The council awards long service bonuses of £100 to those employees with 25 or more years' service which are included for the purpose of this reporting. The small Investments team, comprising 8 male employees, also receive a contractual performance related bonus and this accounts for the higher means and median pay gap for bonuses.

Proportion of male and female in each quartile band

Proportion of males and females receiving a bonus

Proportion of males and females in each pay quartile band

Summary

The council is confident that the gender pay gap is not as a result of equal pay issues. Although 63% of the workforce is female overall, almost three quarters of employees in the lower quartile are female. Women are more likely to occupy lower paid roles while men are more likely to occupy higher-paid roles. This is partly due to women undertaking a higher proportion of the caring responsibility outside the workplace. Women occupy roles such as caring and administration which are in the lower pay bandings.

The council believes that good job design and actively seeking to promote flexible working practices will enable more people to manage their work-life balance better. This will support women in the workplace and is reflected in the improvement in the gender pay gap.

The council already has a range of family-friendly policies and these have been relaunched under a new flexibility framework. A flexi-time policy and procedure has been introduced and a career break scheme is currently under development.

Are you looking for historical gender pay gap data?

Please follow the link below if you need to view historical gender pay gap data for freedom of information requests or general interest.