Gender pay gap newsletter march 2018

Gender pay gap (March 2018) Gender pay gap reporting is now a legal requirement for all large organisations. The results can be used to assess the levels of gender equality in MCH. It’s important to note that the gender pay gap differs from equal pay for equal work. The gender pay gap shows the difference in the average hourly rates of pay for men and women right across the organisation.

Male

Employment mix

Female

In common with most NHS organisations we employ a much higher number of women than men (86% of MCH employees are female, 14% are male).

13.8

%

This varies significantly by staff group, with the proportion of females varying from 60% of medical and dental staff to 96% of qualified nursing staff.

86.2

Quartile split As part of the requirements of gender pay gap reporting we have ranked employees in order, from the lowest to the highest earners, and then divided them equally into four quartiles; lower, lower middle, upper middle and upper pay quartiles.

Upper quartile

Upper mid quartile Lower mid quartile

13.3

10.9

% 86.7

% 89.1

Lower quartile

9.3

19.1

% 90.8

Male

% 80.9

Female

We can then see the proportion or men and women in each of these pay quartiles. We can see that men are most likely to be part of the lower and upper pay quartiles, whereas as women are more likely to be part of the middle two pay quartiles.

Our gender pay gap

13.9%

The average (mean) hourly rate of pay for all women in MCH was 13.9% lower than the average hourly rate of pay for men in March 2017. The median difference between the hourly rates of pay is -3.7% (i.e. women’s hourly rate of pay is higher). The median average is useful because it indicates the typical situation in organisations where pay rates cover a wide range. We need to consider both figures in order to understand the issues behind the data.

The higher proportion of women in MCH means that the average rate of pay for a female employee is less prone to being skewed by the highest earners. Whereas the average rate of pay for male employees is more likely to be skewed by higher earners. This is one of the reasons for our gender pay gap. And while we do have a gender pay gap it is below average for those NHS organisations which have already released data and below the British gender pay gap of 18.1%.

Bonus pay

83.7%

Organisations must also report on bonus pay. An equal proportion of men and women (7%) employed by MCH received a bonus in 2016/2017. However the bonus pay gap was 83.7% (median 40.8%); on average women received less bonus pay than men. The large gap in bonus pay exists because whilst equal proportions of men and women received a bonus payment, only 12 men received a bonus, compared to 81 women. This meant that male bonus pay was heavily skewed by executive pay, whereas female bonus pay was not skewed by larger payments.

Gender split of employees by pay band It’s also helpful to look at our gender split across individual pay bands. We do have a good balance of men and women in senior grades, but we employ more women in lower bands, particularly those with high concentrations of qualified clinical staff (such as bands 5 – 7).

What we’re doing to close the gender pay gap MCH supports and is committed to the fair treatment and reward of all staff irrespective of gender. Where we can, we want to be a more gender-balanced organisation, by making every role attractive to as many people as possible, and offering great careers to the best talent, regardless of gender. We know this may take time.

Male

Female

Medical and dental Apprentice Band 1 Band 2 Band 3 Band 4 Band 5 Band 6 Band 7 Band 8a Band 8b Band 8c Band 8d Assoc director Non-exec Director

 We are already doing lots right. We have great gender balance in our senior roles, where most organisations struggle.

0 50 100  Our pay processes work to make sure we pay equally for the job, regardless of gender.  We’re putting in place our recruitment strategy to give us the best chance of attracting talent in a competitive NHS market, so we’ll become an attractive and relevant employer to more people.  And we want to make sure everyone can build a lifetime career with us. Our policies support staff if they need to care for others and we help new parents, whatever Any questions? If their gender, when having a child or returning to work. you've still got  We will continue to monitor data and report at least annually to the questions, we're happy Board and will work with our remuneration committee to consider the to answer them. Please gender pay gap when succession planning for executive roles. contact your EMF representative in the How you can help first instance or email There’s always more we can do – as an organisation and in the way we Medch.emf@nhs.net support one another. So we’ll continue to look at our policies and work with our trade unions and EMF to reduce barriers to reducing the gender pay gap.

We’d also like to hear from you to understand if there are any barriers for women being promoted to higher bands in MCH, and what we can do about these barriers. If you have thoughts on this please contact HR and Organisational Development Director helen.cunningham1@nhs.net or your EMF rep.

I confirm that the gender pay gap information provided in this report is accurate.

Helen Cunningham, HR & OD Director