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 2019, the council’s headcount was 1487. The figure as at March 2020 is 1563 employees, 77 percent of which are female.
Due to ongoing cuts to public sector funding, the council has and will continue to face significant financial challenges, particularly from 2020/21.
The council’s aim is to become a commissioning organisation. A number of male dominated services, such as refuse, have already 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 2019 was 15.3 percent, a reduction of 0.6 percent on the mean 2018 figures. The median figure has reduced from 11.7 percent in 2018 to 9.3 percent
The bonus pay gap was 1.6 percent, meaning the average bonuses paid to men in 2018 are slightly higher than those paid to women however there was no difference in the median bonus pay.
Due to ongoing transformation agendas within some services, there are a number of senior positions, at head of service level and above, that are occupied by interims. These interims are predominantly female but 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 – 78 percent. 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.