The London Borough of Bromley has a duty under The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017, to publish it’s gender pay report annually.
This applies to all authorities or public bodies with more than 250 employees as at the survey date, 31 March (5 April for the private/voluntary sector).
We are required to publish the following metrics:
- The difference in the mean (average) pay of full pay men and women, expressed as a percentage;
- The difference in the median pay of full pay men and women, expressed as a percentage;
- The difference in mean bonus pay of men and women, expressed as a percentage;
- The difference in median bonus pay of men and women, expressed as a percentage;
- The proportion of men and women who received bonus pay; and
- The proportion of full pay men and women in each of four quartile pay bands.
The figures have been reached using the mechanisms that are set out in the gender pay gap reporting legislation. The figures exclude community and voluntary controlled schools and are based on the central workforce only. Any school with a workforce of over 250 employees would be required to publish their own gender pay report.
As at the 31 March 2022, the council’s headcount was 1637, 75 percent of which were female.
Following the publication of the 2017 gender pay report, the council set the equalities objective as closing the gap.
A number of male dominated services, such as refuse, have been outsourced for a number of years which is in contrast to some other London Boroughs that have retained this section of their workforce. Consequently, unlike a number of authorities, the London Borough of Bromley has a relatively smaller workforce with highly skilled and graded professional/technical roles.
An important point to recognise is that gender pay reporting is not the same as equal pay reporting. Gender pay gaps do not automatically mean there are equal pay issues and likewise, having a positive pay gap does not rule out potential equal pay problems. The gender pay gap differs from equal pay as it is concerned with the differences in the average pay between men and women over a period of time, no matter what their role is. Equal pay deals with the pay differences between men and women who carry out the same or similar roles – equal pay for work of equal value.
The council treats all people with equal respect, concern and consideration and recognises the contribution made to the community by all individuals. We strive to ensure that this belief is embodied in the way we provide services, in our employment practices, and how we work with our partners/agencies in the community.
Results
The London Borough of Bromley’s pay gap for 31 March 2022 was 13.8 percent, 1 percent lower than the 2021 figure. The median figure has decreased from 11.6 percent to 9.3 percent.
The bonus pay gap was -9.7 percent, a positive bonus pay gap, meaning the average bonuses paid to women are higher than those paid to men. There is no difference between men and women in the median bonus figure.
At our director and corporate leadership team level, 50 percent are women however due to ongoing transformation agendas within some services, there are 2 senior positions that are occupied by interims. These interims cannot be included within our figures as they are not directly employed.
Although we promote equal opportunities within the council, there may be a number of underlying causes of a gender pay gap.
- Women are more likely than men to have had breaks from work that have affected their career progression;
- Women are more likely to work in part time positions compared to men, often due to childcare or other care responsibilities, with many of these part time positions being relatively low paid
- Social norms – traditional ‘male’ and ‘female’ roles. Market forces.
- The calculations used for ‘ordinary pay’ for gender pay reporting require that salary sacrifice deductions are taken off the base pay before calculating an hourly rate. A large percent of take up of salary sacrifice, predominantly childcare vouchers, is female. This will create an artificially lower rate for those who opt to use salary sacrifice compared to those who do not.
Actions
What we already have in place:
- Job evaluation: The council uses factor based job evaluation schemes to evaluate the grades of positions across the council e.g. Greater London Provincial Council (GLPC) Scheme. Evaluations are undertaken by a panel of trained staff and subject to review with any changes to positions.
- Pay and grading review (Single status) required a review of how people are graded and paid. As part of single status, an equal pay audit was carried out.
- Fair and transparent processes relating to recruitment; promotion; pay and additional payment
- Diversity policy and training
- Flexible working
- In March 2019, the London Borough of Bromley became one of only five authorities in London to introduce a childcare deposit loan scheme for employees, leading the way in creating family friendly initiatives to improve access to the work place.
- The use of different recruitment initiatives including the use of positive action within adverts for positions in the upper quartile and an encouragement for gender balanced recruitment panels.
- Our corporate leadership team will review and analyse recruitment equalities data on a 6 monthly basis
- Present gender pay report to managers to raise awareness and engagement
- Training for managers including unconscious bias
- Council values and benefits
- International Women’s Day events/webinars for all staff
- Special leave for gender related issues/absences e.g. menopause
Further Potential Actions
- Challenging traditionally male and female roles e.g. using apprenticeships
- Leadership programmes
- Succession planning