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Gender and Race Pay Gap Report

From April 2018, all organisations employing over 250 employees were required to publish their Gender Pay Gap figures to a government portal. The Gender Pay Gap looks at the difference in the average pay of men and women in an organisation. This is different from Equal Pay, which is where men and women are paid the same pay for the same work.

Our full Gender and Ethnicity Pay Gap Report[pdf] 3MB is available now online and to download.

Gender Pay Gap Report - Summary

This is our annual gender pay gap report for the snapshot date of 5th April 2022.

Our mean gender pay gap is 16%. 

This has decreased from 23% in 2021 and from 19.7% in 2020.

When breaking down the mean gap further between Care and Support and Office staff, the gap for Care and Support is +3.8% and for Office 12.2% - again, this evidences a decrease compared to the previous year (in 2021 the gap was 18.2% for Office and 6.8% for Care and Support).

  • Our median gender pay gap has decreased to 22.4% (compared to 29.6% in 2021 and 30.7% in 2020).
  • Our mean gender bonus gap is +37.5% (compared to 17.6% in 2021, and 49.9% in 2020).
  • Our median gender bonus gap is 20% (compared to 0% in 2021, and 0% in 2020).

The proportion of male employees receiving a bonus is 2.4% (this was 8.8% and 12.2% in 2021 and 2020 respectively), and the proportion of female employees receiving a bonus is 8%.

Pay Quartiles By Gender

This table shows our workforce divided into four equal-sized groups based on hourly pay rate. Band A includes the lowest-paid 25% of employees (the lower quartile) and band D covers the highest-paid 25% (the upper quartile).

Pay quartiles by gender
Band Male Female What's included in this band?

A
(lower quartile)

26.6%

(2021: 25%)
(2020: 19%)

73.4%

(2021: 75%)
(2020: 81%)

All employees whose standard hourly rate is within the lower quartile.
B
(lower middle quartile)

28.1%

(2021: 27.6%)
(2020: 2.5%)

71.9%

(2021: 72.4%)
(2020: 77.5%)

All employees whose standard hourly rate is more than the lower quartile but the same or less than the median.
C
(upper middle quartile)

37.5%

(2021: 30.3%)
(2020: 35%)

62.5%

(2021: 69.7%)
(2020: 65%)

All employees whose standard hourly rate is more than the median but the same or less than the upper quartile.
D
(upper quartile)

29.7%

(2021: 37.7%)
(2020: 36%)

70.3%

(2021: 62.3%)
(2020: 65%)

All employees whose standard hourly rate is within the upper quartile.

A quartile is one of four equally sized groups created when you divide a selection of numbers that are in ascending order into four. The "lower quartile" is the lowest group. The "upper quartile" is the highest group.

The figures in this table have been calculated using the standard methods used in the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017.

Why Do We Have a Gender Pay Gap?

Summary of the Data Findings

Estuary is a diverse business with a predominantly female workforce. As at 5th April 2022 the total workforce comprised as follows:

84 men (30%) 2021: 98 (30%) 2020: 95 (28%)
201 women (70%) 2021: 230 (70%) 2020: 240 (72%)

The split between Office and Care and Support (including Bank) was:

Split between Office and Care and Support staff
  Office Care and Support
Male 49 (2021 - 60) 35 (2021 - 38)
Female 89 (2021 - 101) 112 (2021 - 129)
Total 138 (2021 - 161) 147 (2021 - 167)
  48% of total workforce (2021 - 49%) 52% of total workforce (2021 - 51%)

There is very little change from 2021, 2020 and 2019 in the makeup of our staff.  Total Staff Turnover was 8.9% as at 31st March 2022. 

A large part of our service provision is within our Care & Support directorate, where we employ a large proportion of our staff (112 female and 35 male staff). It is recognised nationally that the care and support market is predominantly female in its workforce. Skills for Care report that the care sector as a whole in 2022 comprised 82% female and 18% male staff.

Bonus Pay Gap

During the reporting period preceding April 2022, the proportion of men in the workforce receiving a bonus was 2.4% (2021: 8.8%) (2020: 12.2%) and the proportion of women who received a bonus was 8% (2021: 12%) (2020: 26%).  

Bonuses reported for 2022 relate only to our Long Service Awards (which are fixed sums irrespective of gender) and there was one performance award.

The Mean Bonus Pay Gap for Estuary is +37.5% (2021: 17.6%) which means that the average sum paid to women was over 1/3rd more.

We have a clear policy of paying employees equally for the same or equivalent work, regardless of their gender (or anything else listed above).

Addressing the Gender Pay Gap

What are we going to do to continue to address our gender pay gap?

We're committed to continuing to address the gender pay gap. The sector has had multiple challenges regarding recruitment in areas such as Care and Support and Built Environment. Traditionally Care and Support is predominantly more female and therefore our gender gap continues to reflect this. 

 

Action Plan

We will continue to work to eliminate our gender pay gap. Our action plan for the next year will include:

  1. A financial viability review of our capacity to implement the Real Living Wage for our staff. We remain committed to continue to pay the National Minimum Living Wage. 
  2. We will continue to develop options for recruitment which support the attraction of diverse applicants. This will go together with our commitment to hybrid working, offering more flexibility for both male and female prospective applicants. 
  3. We were able to secure an additional female Director in November 2022. This has increased our diversity at our Executive Team level. Several of our Board members are shortly due to finish their tenure. We will ensure a diverse approach to our recruitment as well as having flexibility for a wider geographical search due to our hybrid working practices. 
  4. We are working with our recruitment partner to anonymise application data to ensure no unconscious bias is applied. This will go live in 2023.

Any further initiatives launched throughout the year will be reported on the company intranet and/or other all-employee communications.

Race Pay Gap Report

This report provides an initial insight into whether we have a Race Pay Gap as at 5th April 2022.

As yet, there is no legal requirement for organisations to report on race pay gaps; we have therefore undertaken this review as good practice as part of our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion monitoring.

Headcount Profile

The table below set out headcount data as at 5th April 2022 in relation to race.

Headcount data in relation to race 2022
  Office Care and Support Total Bank
Race

White = 72% (100)
BAME = 8% (11)
U = 20% (27)

White = 46% (61)
BAME = 42% (57)
U = 12% (16)
White = 59% (161)
BAME = 25% (68)
U = 16% (48)
White = 24%
BAME = 69%
U = 7%


Key: BAME: Black and Minority Ethnic
U: Undisclosed

In terms of race, we are primarily White, amounting to 72% of people in Office roles and 46% of people in Care and Support.

There is a larger disclosed Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) population in Care and Support at 42% of headcount, and just 8% in non-Care and Support operations.

However, in the non-Care and Support business there is a noticeable 20% of employees who have chosen not to disclose their race, and this is 12% in Care and Support. 

It’s notable this information is gathered as part of the recruitment process, where some people fear that they may be rejected on grounds of race or other areas of prejudice, so this is not always disclosed. This will hopefully be resolved by the anonymisation of CV data. 

Pay Comparison Between White and BAME Employees

What is the average pay comparison between White and BAME employees?

Average hourly rate for employees who have disclosed their racial identity:

Average Hourly Rate Broken Down by Racial Identity
  Office Care Bank All
Male White £22.94 £10.83 £10.27 £19.12
Male BAME £22.15 £10.83 £8.93 £12.10
Female White £19.70 £12.05 £9.16 £16.32
Female BAME £19.27 £9.77 £8.97 £11.62
All Male £22.71 £10.83 £9.60 £17.86
All Female £19.94 £11.24 £9.04 £15.00

 

Average Pay Gap Analysis
  Office Care Bank All
Male BAME to White 3.5% 0% 13% 36.7%
Female BAME to Female White 2.2% 18.9% 2.1% 28.8%
BAME Female to BAME Male 13% 9.8% +0.4% 4%
BAME Male to All Male 2.5% 0% 7% 32.3%
BAME Female to All Female 3.4% 13.1% 0.8% 22.5%

Observations and Action Plan

Observations

There is a pay gap between men and women within BAME-only employees. At 4% this is lower than the overall Pay Gap of 16%

As outlined in the Gender Pay Gap Report, we employ a significantly higher number of female staff compared to males, which also has a bearing on these statistics.

What are we going to do to address our race pay gap?

Proposed Action Plan

We continue to monitor the Race Pay Gap and publishes a Race Pay Gap report alongside the Gender Pay Gap report on an annual basis in line with legislation.

We will continue to campaign to attract and recruit a more diverse workforce, at all levels. Our recruitment platforms are used nationally and therefore we can attract a wide candidate pool geographically aligned with supporting our local communities with local jobs. 

We also remain committed to improving the diversity of the Board, Executive Team and Senior Leadership Team.


Ian Martin, Chief Executive
Estuary Housing Association