Gender Pay Gap Reporting

Introduction

Employers with more than 250 employees are required by law to carry out Gender Pay Reporting under the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017.

This involves carrying out six calculations that show the difference between the average earnings of men and women in the organisation. The results must be published on the company website and a government website within one calendar year of the snapshot date.

Only one of the legal employing entities in the Duncan and Todd Group employed more than 250 employees on the snapshot date of 4^th April 2020. However, as the majority of our employees were furloughed on that date, some of the data in the report only refers to the 25 employees who were working in the relevant pay period.

This means that the data refers only to members of the Group Management Team as well as a small number of employees who were required to continue working during the pandemic to allow us to continue to fulfil our obligations as a healthcare provider.

Calculations

Calculations have been completed in line with the government guidelines. See below table summarising the results of these calculations for your review.

-Where the number has a positive value, male employees earn more than female employees; where the value is negative, females earn more than males.

-When looking at the pay quartiles, the ideal situation – which would demonstrate that all employees have equal opportunity to progress to higher paid roles in the business, regardless of gender – would show an equal proportion of males to females in each pay quartile. As 74% of our population is female, we would aim to see 74% of employees in each quartile to be female.

Analysis

These results can be used to assess:
-the levels of gender equality in our workplace
-the balance of male and female employees at different levels
-how effectively talent is being maximised and rewarded.

The challenge in our organisation and across Great Britain is to eliminate any gender pay gap.

It is important to note that this data set includes a small number of our employees, due to the majority being on Furlough Leave on the snapshot date. For a more accurate analysis, data as at the 2021 snapshot date will be used to identify further any actions to be considered.

-For this data set, both mean and median hourly rates are higher for females in the business. This reflects the fact that the Group Management team is comprised predominantly of females. As can be seen by reviewing the Pay Quartiles, this is reflective of the proportion of females to males across the whole organisation.
-The mean gender bonus gap is relatively high, while the proportion of both genders receiving bonuses are almost equal. This indicates that both genders are equally likely to receive a bonus, but that males receive a significantly higher value of bonus than females. This is most likely due to a higher proportion of males in roles that include commission/bonuses as part of their standard reward structure (eg Audiology)
-Three of the four pay quartiles are evenly spread, with the Lower Mid Quartile showing a 50/50 split. This indicates that for this data set, the proportion of employees at every level is evenly spread.
-Some steps have been taken to review and amend the bonus scheme since the snapshot date, although minimal bonuses have been paid in the period since the start of the pandemic in 2020. Calculations for April 2021 and 2022 will identify whether this change has reduced the bonus gap for that group.

Actions

The following actions are identified following analysis of the calculations. Further analysis is required to identify contributing factors and potential areas of concern.

-Calculations to be completed for the April 2021 snapshot date as soon as possible to understand the Gender Pay Gap for the full business now that lockdown has come to an end and the majority of employees have returned to work full time.
-The results of the gender pay gap calculations to be taken into account by the Remuneration Committee when considering pay and reward matters for the Group
-Values and criteria of bonus schemes to be reviewed to ensure fairness and consistency across all areas of the business

In addition to the above, the Company has invested in an integrated HR and Payroll system, to ensure that data is captured more accurately and efficiently in future. This will allow us to carry out regular internal Gender Pay Gap audits and take actions to address any concerns in a timely manner.

Prepared by:

Ciara McGrath, Group HR Manager

Approved by:

Julie Mosgrove, Retail Director