We're pleased to announce that our median and mean gender pay gap has reduced vs last year's report and is still well below the national average.
As an employer of more than 250 staff, Royal Holloway Students’ Union has undertaken Gender Pay Gap Reporting, as required by the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information Regulations 2017).
We are pleased to report that the Students' Union has a 0% median pay gap, and a mean pay gap of 4.2% when considering all staff, which is significantly less than the UK average of 15.5%. We also have a good representation of female workers within our senior and middle management posts.
The data outlined relates to a snapshot period (which is the requirement of the regulations). For the purpose of this report, the snapshot period was April 2020 for permanent staff and the 12 weeks prior to 5 April 2020 for casual staff.
Equal Pay vs Gender Pay Gap
It is important to note the difference between equal pay and the gender pay gap. Equal pay deals with the pay differences between men and women who carry out the same jobs, similar jobs or work of equal value. Gender pay gap reporting shows the difference in the average pay between all men and women in the workforce.
So why do we have a gender pay gap?
We’re confident that the gender pay gap does not stem from paying men and women differently. Rather our gender pay gap is the result of two factors:
- A large student staff workforce that is 60—70% female and reflective of the demographic of the University.
- The most senior and highest paid position of Chief Executive was held by a male on the reporting date.
In order for there to be no gender pay gap, there would need to be an identical distribution of males and females across all roles.
To ensure fairness and transparency we have a number of policies and processes in place around pay and recruitment that include:
- All casual staff being paid a fixed hourly wage irrespective of gender.
- All permanent staff are recruited to roles that have been through job evaluation, and sit within a defined salary scale, to ensure fair pay.
- We have a pay policy in place with incremental increases to pay on an annual basis.
What are we doing next?
As an organisation committed to equality we will continue to ensure that recruitment practices are transparent and fair, and that female employees do not face any barriers to recruitment or promotion.
We are particularly keen to ensure that future applications are encouraged from female candidates in the senior management team.
We will continue to ensure that all of our roles go through a rigorous job evaluation process which results in the right grading and pay level, irrespective of who is or may be in the role.
If you would like to read the full report you can do so below.
Download the report