In the UK, public, private and voluntary sector organisations with 250 or more employees have to report on their gender pay gaps annually (2022 will be the 6th cycle of reporting). The report shows the difference between the average earnings of men and women expressed relative to men’s earnings.

A gender pay gap doesn’t mean women are paid less than men for doing the same job within the organisation, but it does show that on average, men occupy higher-paying roles than women.

Where we are and why

At the snapshot date of 5 April 2022, WWT’s workforce consisted of 490 employees and casual workers with 38.6% being male and 61.4% being female.

Figure 1. Gender split of WWT employees.

Our gender pay gap report reveals an 11.44% pay gap exists between the average pay of men and women and a 13.69% pay gap exists when looking at the median (mid-point) level of pay for our male and female workers.

Our average (mean) gender pay gap is showing a steady improvement over recent years, but we have seen an increase in the Median pay gap for this reporting year.

2019 2020 2021 2022
Mean gender pay gap
(the average hourly rate)
14.93% 14.86% 12.77% 11.44%
Median Gender Pay Gap
(the mid point hourly rate when listed in order)
11.67% 11.67% 11.93% 13.69%

For gender pay gap reporting, we’re also asked to split our paid workers into four groups (quartiles) by hourly rate and to show the balance of men and women in each quartile (at the snapshot date).

Figure 2. Balance of men and women in each quartile.

Our analysis revealed that the root cause of our gender pay figures is that more women than men are employed in part-time roles and within our casual worker positions at WWT. These part-time roles tend to exist at our lower grades and these have attracted a higher proportion of women here, and more generally in society. We’re glad to be able to offer flexible working patterns that enable people to fit work around other commitments, but we’re also looking at what we can do to make the gender split more balanced across the four quartiles.

Bonuses

In addition, organisations must report on bonus pay. We don’t pay bonuses, however, this year we have a calculated figure for the bonus pay gap as we provided everyone eligible (both employees and casuals) within the organisation a one off discretionary payment in February 2022, to thank our teams for all their hard work through the Covid pandemic.

The bonus pay gap is calculated using bonus amounts paid to all relevant employees within the 12 month period ending on the snapshot date of 5th April 2022. This consisted of 602 employees and casual workers with 83.6% of men and 78.7% of women receiving the bonus payment. Our gender bonus pay gap reveals that a 4.02% pay gap exists between the average (mean) bonus paid to men and women and a 0% pay gap exists when looking at the median (mid-point) bonus amount for our male and female workers.

Our analysis revealed that the root cause of our bonus gender pay gap is that we have more casual workers who are women. All employees were paid the same amount (£250) for the one off payment and all casual workers received the same amount (£50) as each other. As 63% of our casual workers were female during the relevant period, this led to a small pay gap for the one off discretionary payment.

Paying the same for doing the same job

It’s important to note that the gender pay gap is not a measure of the difference in pay between men and women for doing the same job. Within WWT, men and women are paid equally at the same grade for doing equivalent jobs across the Trust and where differences occur through the payment of market forces, they are justifiable.

What we’re doing to improve our gender pay gap

Actions taken in 2022/2023

  • Launched an updated Flexible Working policy and new Hybrid Working policy which give more flexible options to enable colleagues at all levels within WWT to work in a way that suits their personal needs.
  • Continued to appoint a number of women to more senior roles within WWT.
  • Introduced in person exit interviews at more senior grades to try and identify any trends that may be impacting retention.
  • Extended our suite of internal training courses so that our line managers have the knowledge and skills to make inclusive decisions.

Actions we plan to take in 2023/24

  • Tailor recruitment campaigns in areas where the pay gap is highest and ensure that flexible, hybrid, part time working and job share is offered when the role allows.
  • Sign the ‘Show the Salary’ pledge which can be used when a new role is advertised to give all candidates an equal chance of a fair wage.
  • Assess the best way to enable people to gain entry to employment at WWT through placements and apprenticeships through development of an Early Careers pathway.
  • Developing a Secondment policy and updating our Recruitment policy so everyone is aware of internal routes to progress within their careers at WWT.
  • Updating all our recruitment processes to make sure they are as inclusive and transparent as possible and delivering training to hiring managers to support this.

Committed to promoting equity

The reasons for more women wishing to work in part-time roles are influenced by cultural, economic, and societal factors. WWT cannot impact all of these factors but is committed to reducing its gender pay gap. We are working hard to ensure that procedures and practices do not create barriers to gender equality and that we remove any obstacles to women reaching the senior levels of our organisation. We are serious about enabling a work life balance for all and are working to make our flexible working practices the best they can be. We have launched an updated flexible working policy and new hybrid working policy and starting more detailed work on diversity, inclusion and belonging. We will also continue to recognise and challenge any factors that we believe contribute to the gender pay gap.

Kirsty Iles
Head of People
March 2023