Companies House gender pay gap report 2018
Published 26 February 2019
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The gender pay gap shows the difference in the average pay between all men and women in a workforce.
The gender pay gap is different to equal pay. Equal pay deals with the pay differences between men and women who carry out the same jobs, similar jobs or work of equal value. It is unlawful to pay people unequally because they are a man or a woman.
Companies House supports the fair treatment and reward of all staff irrespective of gender. This report analyses the figures in more detail and sets out what we are doing to close the gender pay gap in the organisation.
The data in this report uses the Government Equalities Office methodology and is reported on the snapshot date of 31 March 2018. For bonuses, the period used was 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018, which was the 12 months preceding the snapshot date.
1. Gender pay gap
Mean pay gap: 13% (mean is the average in the data set).
Median pay gap: 19% (median is the middle number in the data set).
The comparison of mean and median pay in Companies House shows a gap in favour of men which is higher than the gap across the whole civil service which is 13% (mean) and 19% (median).
This figure is largely attributable to the fact that we employ a large number of female staff in our administrative grades.
Companies House pay data covers Civil Service grades ranging from Administrative Assistant to Senior Civil Servant. The grades vary according to the level of responsibility that staff have. Each grade has a set pay range with pay gaps in between grades.
2. Pay by quartiles
The proportion of male and female employees in Companies House in each quartile is shown in the table below.
| Quartile | Female % | Male % |
|---|---|---|
| Lower quartile | 70.17% | 29.83% |
| Lower middle quartile | 64.29% | 35.71% |
| Upper middle quartile | 52.10% | 47.90% |
| Upper quartile | 52.10% | 47.90% |
Female staff members make up 70.17% of the lower quartile of CH pay and 52.10% of the upper quartile.
As 56% of the department’s total staff are female and 44% male, this illustrates that the pay gap is largely a result of a higher concentration of female staff in the more junior grades.
3. Exemplar awards
Companies House operates a reward and recognition scheme that is based on performance and is irrespective of gender.
The proportion of male and female employees paid a performance award in the 12 months ending 31 March 2018 was as follows:
Female: 54%
Male: 46%
Exemplar award mean pay gap: 7%
Exemplar award median pay gap: 16%
The comparison of performance pay in Companies House shows a gap in favour of men of 7% (mean) and 16% (median).
As the size of the exemplar award for individuals is calculated as a percentage of their pay, the gap is mainly due to a higher concentration of female staff in more junior grades.
4. Closing the gender pay gap
We recognise that the greater proportion of men in our highest grades is reflected in the gender pay gap analysis. And, as an organisation, we are committed to fair pay irrespective of gender. We have already gone a long way in creating a family friendly organisation and will continue to build on a number of actions and initiatives to reduce the gender pay gap, these include:
Assistance for returning women following a career break, flexible working patterns which can be adjusted to help with childcare, shared parental leave, play schemes and child care vouchers. We have extended our flexible working arrangements and we will be further extending these and reviewing home and mobile working policies.
Companies House as part of the wider Civil Service actively encourages development of Women within its organisation. Each year the Civil Service holds a Women into Leadership event, with this year event being held within City Hall, Cardiff. Companies House has issued invitations to women in various managerial positions across the business to attend and some of our senior managers spoke at the event. We are also setting up our own internal network and have run specific training for women entering into leadership roles.
The Skills and Development Team are working with Cardiff University Executive Education. Discussions have been held about running a pilot programme with them aimed at promoting confidence in women. We also provide training for all in preparing for interviews.
Recruitment is carried out under Civil Service Commission Principles; recruitment must be based on fair and open competition and successful candidates selected on merit. The sift process is completed without the sifter knowing any personal details of the candidates to help protect against any bias. We are committed to continuous improvement of our recruitment processes to reduce the potential for unconscious bias.
Ensuring that gender equality and increasing the representation of women at higher levels in the organisation is part of our strategic diversity and inclusion aims.
Our HR department has been building links with community groups and job centres and participate in careers events for schools and colleges promoting inclusivity and opportunities for all genders. We also host work experience opportunities in the organisation.