Gender pay gap report

Background

Introduced in April 2017, government legislation requires all employers of 250 or more employees to publish their gender pay gap. Although linked, gender pay gap is not the same as equal pay. They remain separate and use different measures:

• Equal pay – The statutory right for men and women to be paid the same for completing work of equal value. The council has policies in place and is an equal pay employer
• Gender pay gap – A measure of the average earnings between all men and all women within an organisation

As a result, the gender pay gap is affected by how the workforce is made up, and not due to unequal pay. It is affected by the numbers of men and women in different types of jobs and at different levels of seniority.

Reporting requirements

Gender pay gap

This is the difference between the average hourly rate of pay for men and women, based on a snapshot as at 31 March 2023. A positive pay gap indicates men are paid more, a negative pay gap indicates that women are paid more.

Quartile pay bands

Putting the combined workforce in order of hourly rate of pay and then splitting them into four groups of equal size, known as ‘quartiles’ (lower, lower middle, upper middle, and upper) provides the proportions of men and women in each of the four groups.

Mean and median 

The legislation requires average hourly pay to be calculated in two separate ways:

• Mean – The total earnings for all women is combined and divided by the number of women. This is repeated for the men. The two values are compared giving the mean gender pay gap
• Median – Having lined up all women in order of pay, taking the middle value gives the median. This is repeated for men. The two values are compared giving the median gender pay gap

Our current gender pay gap

Below are the gender pay gap figures for Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council, reported in line with central government regulations. As of 31 March 2023, the council’s workforce comprised of 430 employees. Of this, 210 were women and 230 were men. We do not publish bonus gender pay information as bonus payments are not made. 

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the overall UK gender pay gap is 14.9% and this shows that our gap is considerably lower than the national average across all sectors.

Mean gender pay gap

The mean gender pay gap for the council on 31 March 2023 is 3.1%:

• Women: £15.45
• Men: £15.95

Median gender pay gap

The median gender pay gap for the council on 31 March 2023 is 6.7%:

• Women: £13.48        
• Men: £14.45

Hinckley & Bosworth pay quartiles

The bulleted list below shows the proportion of male and female 'full-pay relevant employees' in each of four pay bands (quartiles). Pay band A represents the lowest salaries, and pay band D represents the highest salaries.

Gender pay gap by quartiles 31 March 2023

• Band A - Lower pay quartile (0 to 25%):
  • Women: 43%
  • Men: 57%
• Band B - Lower middle pay quartile (25 to 50%):
  • Women: 63%
  • Men: 37%
• Band C - Upper middle pay quartile (50 to 75%):
  • Women: 42%
  • Men: 58%
• Band D - Upper pay quartile (75 to 100%):
  • Women: 46%
  • Men: 54%

Understanding our gap

We have identified that occupational segregation is the primary cause for our gender pay gap within the council. The council is an equal pay employer and has equal pay policies in place to ensure the same pay rates apply for roles, irrespective of whether they are occupied by women or men. Even if men and women working in the same role are paid the same on average, a gap could still arise if women or men are concentrated in those occupations which pay less.

What is the council doing to address its gender pay gap?

While the council’s gender pay gap compares favourably with that of the public sector generally and the whole UK economy, this is not a subject about which the council is complacent. The organisation is committed to reducing the current gender pay gap further.

To date, the steps that the council has taken to promote gender diversity in all areas of its workforce include the following:

• Encouraging women into senior roles, as demonstrated through the gender profile of the Strategic Leadership Team which is split one male and two female
• Flexible working arrangements are available to all staff
• Hinckley & Bosworth actively encourages a healthy work-life balance and promotes a flexible approach to work. We have a high level of part-time staff working within the council (26%) and high take up of childcare vouchers and staff returning from maternity and paternity leave
• We provide a range of training opportunities through e-learning which enables greater access and availability for staff
• The council has delivered drama-based programmes on both equality and diversity and the officer code of conduct
• We have increased our numbers of apprentices, work experience and other educational outreach schemes with schools, colleges and universities

Last updated: ‎18/03/2024 13:40