Gender pay gap reporting 2022/2023
One of our key aims as a firm is to build an inclusive workplace that fosters diversity. We want to ensure that our people feel respected and accepted and that everyone feels that they can be themselves at work.
2022 was a busy year for us and we are pleased 62.2% of our promotions overall were female. We recognise there is still work to do in the delivery of our gender ambition and the firm will retain its focus on this delivery through 2024 and beyond.
We continue to go beyond statutory reporting requirements in our gender pay gap reporting, choosing to voluntarily report our partner remuneration gap and our combined pay gap for all our people. We are committed to being open and transparent about our position and where we need to improve.
Whilst we are pleased to have made some progress in narrowing our median pay gap and our mean and median bonus gaps, our mean pay gap has increased by 2.2% to 20.3%. We will be working to close this mean pay gap figure and will continue to ensure gender equality is embedded in our strategic plans as a firm for the foreseeable future.
Our employee gender pay gap exists because of the higher percentage of women in our lower paid roles e.g. in our administrative and support roles. These roles are competitively paid compared to the market and we ensure equal pay for men and women in the same roles, however because they are predominantly filled by women this affects the average pay and bonus figures for women at the firm overall and produces the gender pay gap. We are tackling our pay gap by providing development opportunities for those in lower paid roles.
We are pleased to see our median pay gap reducing this year. The mean pay gap has increased slightly but is still below the 20/21 figure.
We have a good gender balance at senior levels amongst our people, with 52% of our Heads of Practice being female, however we need to focus more on achieving a better balance at partner level as currently only 36% of our LLP partners are female.
We are pleased with the progress made so far but we recognise there is more work to be done. Reporting progress through our DE&I Report provides transparency and holds us to account.
Key Stats
FTC and Perm employees only
Explaining the gender pay gap
The gender pay gap measures the difference in hourly earnings between men and women within an organisation. If women do more of the lower paid jobs within an organisation than men, the gender pay gap tends to be bigger. It is important to note that this is different to equal pay, which focuses on women and men being paid the same for doing equal work. Unequal pay is unlawful and we are committed to equal pay for men and women in the same roles.
Organisations are required to report their:
- Mean and median gender pay gap
- Bonus gender pay gap
- Proportion of men and women receiving a bonus
Statutory Reporting Figures
Note
1) The snapshot data for 2022/23 was taken on 5 April 2023 to calculate the mean and median gender pay gap
2) The relevant bonus period for 22/23 is the preceding 12 months ending on the snapshot date being used for calculations. i.e. as the snapshot date is 5 April 2023, the relevant bonus period is 6 April 2022 to 5 April 2023
Mean & Median Gender Pay Gap
The mean pay gap figure has slightly increased this year (by 2.2%, to 20.3%) and the median pay gap figure has decreased this year (by 0.8%, to 23.9%). To fully understand the reasons behind this, we have reviewed the results by job category and we acknowledge that the area that requires the most focus here is Consultants and above.
We are pleased to report the pay gap for ‘Support’ roles has decreased from 13.1% to 12.5%. (Please note the Support category includes all roles in Central Support teams). Most of the new support hires have been PA, EA, EC and TA roles which are predominately women.
Mean & Median Bonus Pay Gap
The Mean Bonus Pay Gap has slightly decreased (2.2%) from 47.4% to 45.2% with the Median Bonus Pay Gap also decreasing more significantly (11.5%) from 42.5% to 31%.
Please note that the bonus gap is calculated using actual bonus amounts with no adjustment for part-time working. Our bonuses are paid on a pro rate basis and significantly more of our women work part time than men.
We are pleased to report the proportion of females receiving a bonus payment has risen from 59.4% to 68.1% (10% higher than males in the 2022 year). Most of the new hires in the 21/22 year (who were predominantly women) are eligible for bonus in the 22/23 year due to meeting the length of service criteria.
LLP
The Mean Pay Gap among LLPs is -1.4% and the Median Pay Gap is 0.3%.
Although there are only 33.8% of women in the Upper Quartile, we still have a negative Mean Pay Gap as the women who fall into this category are rewarded similarly to the men.
What are we doing to address our pay gaps?
In 2022 we promoted a total of 37 employees across the business, 62.2% of whom were women. However, there is less gender balance at partnership level (which is around 36% female) and within our support teams (98% female). Our aim is for our proportion of partner promotions to reflect a better gender balance and we want to encourage more males to join our support teams. We are closely monitoring our future talent pipeline to improve gender parity in future promotions.
As part of our wellbeing and retention strategy, we have recently introduced Menopause Passports (in 2023) to supplement our menopause policy and to demonstrate our commitment to positive action in the firm around menopause through line management training and actively supporting our people through our Menopause Allies Group. We are also founder partners of Gen-M, an organisation focused on working with manufacturers/brands and service providers to recognise and support peri/menopausal and post-menopausal women.
We have rolled out a modular programme of DE&I training to all employees. We recognise that such training must be supported by inclusive practices and we are continuously reviewing our policies and processes to minimise the impacts of unconscious bias.
We hold regular Career Conversation seminars to improve transparency of career development opportunities for our people at all levels, equipping them with the necessary skills and knowledge to take ownership of their career.
We have also launched a series of Learning & Development seminars for our Executive Assistant population to help individuals build their skillsets and develop their careers.
We continue to support a hybrid working pattern, flexi-hours and part-time working. Our hybrid working model demonstrates how we are combining home and office-based working. According to a recent employee survey, 85% of our people agreed that our hybrid working principles strike the right balance for them. We continue to monitor our approach to ensure they meet the needs of the business and our people.
We have recently created a Parents & Carers Allies Group, which provides information, advice and support to working parents and carers.
We encourage our colleagues to take Shared Parental Leave which offers 6 weeks’ full pay as we are committed to being a family-friendly employer. We are committed to ensuring our people receive the support they need before, during and after any family leave.
The Gender Allies have held a number of seminars to discuss gender in the workplace.
We continue to approve close to 95% of formal flexible working requests submitted.
The language we use is regularly audited on all adverts, role profiles and person specifications to ensure we are being open and encouraging. We also have open conversations about how we can support returning parents, establishing flexible working patterns or making other adjustments where needed.
We continue to have an open, accessible, and fair promotions process that allows development for all and we provide mentoring and buddy schemes for all employees.
We are signatories of the Change the Race Ratio and the Race at Work Charter, and are working towards identifying our Ethnicity Pay Gap.
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