The Department for Education has reported a mean gender pay gap of 5.3% for hourly fixed pay across its UK-based workforce.
The government department has recorded its snapshot data for 31 March 2017 in compliance with gender pay gap reporting regulations. The data has been published on the government’s gender pay gap viewing service.
The median gender pay gap for hourly fixed pay is 5.9% at 31 March 2017.
The mean gender pay gap for bonus pay, which is awarded based on performance, is 0.8% in the year up to 31 March 2017, and the median gender pay gap for bonuses is 0%. Over this period, 67% of men received bonus pay, compared to 72% of women.
Just over half (53%) of employees in the highest pay quartile at the Department for Education are women, compared to 55% in the second quartile, 61% in the third quartile, and 61% in the lowest pay quartile.
The Department for Education has introduced a range of measures to help close its gender pay gap and to support women in the workplace. This includes talent management schemes, a women’s equality network that runs upskilling events and talks, monitoring pay to identify and address any differences, and ensuring gender equality is a central part of the department’s diversity and inclusion strategy.
The government department has also made changes to its recruitment process by anonymising the application process, and ensuring that interviewers have undergone unconscious bias training. Support to help women back into the workplace has also been made available, including job sharing or part-time opportunities, and updated guidance for staff returning from maternity or adoption leave.
The gender pay gap reporting regulations require organisations with 250 or more employees to publish the difference between both the mean and median hourly rate of pay for male and female full-time employees; the difference between both the mean bonus pay and median bonus pay for male and female employees; the proportions of male and female employees who were awarded bonus pay; and the proportions of male and female full-time employees in the lower, lower middle, upper middle and upper quartile pay bands.
The Government Equalities Office launched the online gender pay gap viewing service in April 2017 to allow the public to see the data that employers have published so far to fulfil their gender pay gap reporting obligations.
Justine Greening, the secretary of state for education and minister for women and equalities, said: “I’m proud that the Department for Education has taken an important step in reporting its gender pay gap, setting an example to other employers as we build a stronger economy where success is defined by talent, not gender or circumstance.
“The UK’s gender pay gap is at a record low, but we are committed to closing it. As one of the UK’s largest employers, the public sector has a vital role to play in leading the way to tackle the gender pay gap which is why the [Department for Education’s] step to publish our gender pay gap matters.
“Through transparency we can find out what the situation is, where there is best practice and create pressure for more progress.”