Transparency data

DIT gender pay gap report 2020 to 2021

Published 27 January 2022

Executive summary

In 2017 the government introduced legislation requiring all organisations with more than 250 employees to publish their gender pay gap each year. This report sets out our gender pay gap (GPG) and what we are doing to close it.

The March 2021, the Department for International Trade (DIT) GPG was 5.8% for the mean and 10.8% for the median, which is a decrease of 0.7 and 5.1 percentage points respectively. The bonus gap was -0.8% for the mean and 0.0% for the median. This is a decrease of 8.1 percentage points for the mean (down from 7.3% in March 2020) with no change for the median. See Table 1 for summary information.

The department uses 11 Civil Service job grades, from the most junior (Administrative Officer), to the most senior at Senior Civil Service (SCS) grades. Historically, Grade 7, Grade 6, and SCS 2/3/4 grades have consistently made the largest contribution to DIT’s GPG. However, this year, Grade 6 and SCS 2/3/4 made a larger contribution to the GPG than in 2020, whereas we have seen improvements at Grade 7.

In June 2020, we centred our approach to reducing our GPG around 3 pillars: attract, retain, and build. We established the Gender Pay Gap Taskforce (comprised of senior leaders) who use data insights to help reach evidence-based decisions on interventions to reduce the gap. Furthermore, close collaboration with our Gender Network has helped refine our plans through qualitative feedback. Our focus over the next year will be embedding good practice and interventions through our People Strategy and Inclusion Framework delivery plans.

DIT is an inclusive employer, and we are proud of our employee offer which includes:

• flexible, smarter and job-share working arrangements to empower colleagues to make the right decision about where, when, and how to work
• short- and long-term overseas opportunities
• talent progression
• staff networks who provide peer support and advice around parental and caring responsibilities, gender, ethnic minority, social mobility, disability, and LGBTQ+ issues
• mentoring and professional development

We are focused on building an employee value proposition and recruitment brand which attracts the best diverse candidates to a range of roles both in the UK and overseas. This will focus on our appeal to women and improve our representation and retention at senior grades. This work has contributed to the department being nominated for LinkedIn Talent Awards as a Diversity Champion and for our Employer Brand. We are committed to developing our own diverse talent and building a culture which truly reflects the DIT spirit – a working environment that is expert, enterprising, engaged, and inclusive.

Background

Under the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017, DIT is required to report annually on its GPG. These regulations underpin the Public Sector Equality Duty and require the relevant organisations to publish their GPG data by 30 March annually. This includes the gender bonus gaps, the distribution of bonuses by men and women, and the proportions of male and female employees by pay quartile.

In December 2017, DIT published its first annual GPG report which covered the period of 2016 to 2017. Initial analysis included only those living and working in the UK, however, subsequent DIT GPG analysis includes staff deemed to be full paid relevant employees.^{[footnote 1]} This includes several staff who are based overseas but paid through a UK based payroll.

Definition of the gender pay gap

Gender pay gap (GPG) is defined by the Office for National Statistics as ‘the difference between average hourly earnings of men and women as a proportion of men’s average hourly earnings (excluding overtime)’.^{[footnote 2]} If a workforce has a particularly high GPG, this can be due to a variety of factors and deeper analysis is required to determine what the cause may be in different organisations. The GPG 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.

DIT’s historic gender pay gap and gender bonus pay gap

DIT have published the gender pay gap since 2017, owing to the department being established during mid-2016. DIT’s population has changed significantly since this time, now reaching 4,428 full-time employees (FTE) as of March 2021 versus 2,323 FTE at March 2017. Against this growth, DIT has experienced a fluctuating gender pay and gender bonus pay gap as the department has matured and grown.

Table 1: gender pay gap 2017 to 2021

Year	Mean	Median
2017	3.6%	2.7%
2018	4.7%	9.4%
2019	5.5%	12.9%
2020	6.5%	15.9%
2021	5.8%	10.8%

Table 2: gender bonus pay gap 2017 to 2021

Year	Mean	Median
2017	-14.4%	3.1%
2018	0.21%	0.0.%
2019	2.5%	0.0%
2020	7.3%	0.0%
2021	-0.8%	0.0%

Our diversity and inclusion approach

We published DIT’s Inclusion Framework in April 2021. The framework sets the foundations for our ambitions of improving diversity and inclusion within the department over the long-term. It details action required to achieve the transformation we want and how we will ensure that the impact of our action is sustainable. This is aligned to the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, which was published in October 2017, which includes the Civil Service ambition of becoming the UK’s most inclusive employer. The Civil Service, including DIT, wants to create a diverse and representative workplace – one that will attract and retain talented people from all backgrounds and give everyone the opportunity to reach their potential.

About the department

The Department for International Trade (DIT) helps businesses to export, drives inward and outward investment, negotiates market access and trade deals, and champions free trade.

We promote the UK globally and work to grow UK exports and enhance our reputation as a top destination for foreign investment. We bring together policy, promotion, and financial expertise to break down barriers to trade and investment. We also provide access to new markets and ensuring UK businesses are at the forefront of exporting opportunities. Since the UK left the European Union, we are responsible for the country’s independent trade policy. This includes delivering free trade agreements that benefit businesses and consumers, embedding the UK as a champion of global free trade.

Our workforce

As of 31 March 2021, 46.7% of the GPG reportable DIT workforce are female and 53.3% are male. The March 2021 GPG analysis includes those staff deemed to be full paid relevant employees^{[footnote 3]} as required by the legislation, paid on a UK-based payroll. The department uses 11 Civil Service job grades (listed below from junior to senior).

The following tables show the eligible population included in the March 2021 DIT ordinary gender pay gap (Table 3) and bonus pay gap (Table 4). Since 2020, individual Civil Service organisations’ GPG figures have been published on gov.uk as part of the Civil Service Statistical bulletin.^{[footnote 4]} The figures for DIT, included in this report, are also published in the bulletin. Gender balance at different grades is one of the main contributing factors to an organisation’s GPG.

Table 3: Full pay relevant employees on 31 March 2021 (for GPG) ^{[footnote 5]}

Grade	Number of females	Female % of grand total	Female % of grade	Number of males	Male % of grand total	Male % of grade	Total
AO	20	1%	51%	19	1%	49%	39
EO	142	5%	54%	123	5%	46%	265
Fast stream	18	1%	43%	24	1%	57%	42
HEO	279	11%	47%	312	12%	53%	591
SEO	245	9%	47%	277	11%	53%	522
Grade 7	337	13%	45%	404	15%	55%	741
Grade 6	117	4%	43%	154	6%	57%	271
SCS 1	54	2%	48%	58	2%	52%	112
SCS 2/3/4	14	1%	31%	31	1%	69%	45
Total	1,226	46.7%	46.7%	1,402	53.3%	53.3%	2,628

Table 4: Relevant^{[footnote 6]} employees who received a bonus during the 12 months to 31 March 2021 (for GBPG)^{[footnote 5]}

Grade (note 1)	Number of females	Female % of grand total	Female % of grade	Number of males	Male % of grand total	Male % of grade	Total
AO	9	1%	47%	10	1%	53%	19
EO	74	5%	54%	63	4%	46%	137
HEO/FS (note 2)	153	9%	45%	187	11%	55%	340
SEO	171	11%	50%	168	10%	50%	339
Grade 7	251	15%	48%	275	17%	52%	526
Grade 6	92	6%	47%	104	6%	53%	196
SCS	36	2%	51%	34	2%	49%	70
Total	786	48.3%	48.3%	841	51.7%	51.7%	1,627

Note 1: HEO and FS grades and SCS1 and SCS 2/3/4 grades have been grouped together due to disclosure control rules (where reported figures are lower than 5).

The gender pay gap

The 2021 mean GPG (the difference between men’s and women’s average hourly pay) is 5.8% and the median GPG is 10.8%. In monetary terms, the mean hourly difference in ordinary pay is £1.48 compared to £1.65 in 2020 and the median hourly difference is £2.68 compared to £4.04 in 2020.

Figure 1: Mean and median ordinary pay by gender

Table 5: The mean and median ordinary GPG and reportable GPG employee population, snapshot in March each year ^{[footnote 7]}

Year	Mean	Median	Reportable GPG employee population
2019	5.5%	12.9%	1,793
2020	6.5%	15.9%	2,242
2021	5.8%	10.8%	2,628

The gender bonus pay gap

DIT offers end of year performance awards to staff who receive the highest performance ratings and operates an in-year reward scheme to recognise strong contributions throughout the year.

The GPG for ordinary pay is calculated as a ‘snapshot’ at the end of March 2021, it includes any bonus payments paid in that month. The gender differential in bonus pay is calculated to consider all bonus payments made in the year up to that point. Therefore, this analysis includes all in-year reward payments and end of year bonus payments made from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021. End of year performance awards and in-year awards at DIT are not pro-rated for part-time staff (so these staff receive the full value of the bonus). Therefore, the gender bonus pay gap is not affected by number of part-time staff in either gender.

The mean gender bonus pay gap (GBPG) decreased from 7.3% in 2020 to -0.8% in 2021 – a cash difference between men and women of -£7.68. The median GBPG (difference between the employee in the middle of the range of male bonus and their female counterpart) has remained at 0%.

Figure 2: Mean and median bonus awards by gender

Table 6: The mean and median GBPG since March 2019

Year	Mean	Median	Reportable GBPG employee population
2019	2.5%	0.0%	1,009
2020	7.3%	0.0%	1,278
2021	-0.8%	0.0	1,627

Table 7: The proportion of total employees receiving a bonus since March 2019, by gender

Year	Overall proportion of women receiving a bonus	Overall proportion of men receiving a bonus
2019	58%	55%
2020	59%	55%
2021	61%	59%

The overall proportion of women receiving a bonus (61%) is higher than the proportion of men (59%). However, women tend to receive smaller bonuses because of their distribution across the grade structure as higher grades are eligible for (and generally receive) more. Consequently, the distributional impact of having more men at more senior grades contributes to the observed GBPG. Generally, a bigger decrease in the mean than the median indicates a small number of individuals’ bonuses are having a large effect on the GBPG. For example, a decrease in the number of large individual bonuses paid to senior men has led to a decrease in the mean GBPG, but it has not impacted on the median GBPG.

Pay quartile distribution

Table 8 shows, for ordinary pay, the proportion of men and women that are in each pay quartile, arranged in order of hourly pay rate. In DIT, there are slightly more women than men in the first (lowest) pay quartile. Above that, the number of women employed is consistently lower across the remaining 3 quartiles, ranging between 42% and 47% in the top 3 quartiles.

Table 8: Breakdown by pay quartile, split by gender – March 2021

Quartile	Female headcount	Female %	Male headcount	Male %	Total headcount
Upper	278	42%	379	58%	657
Upper middle	305	46%	352	54%	657
Lower middle	312	47%	345	53 %	657
Lower	331	50%	326	50%	657

What lies behind DIT’s gender pay gap decrease in 2021?

This section examines some of the underlying reasons behind the decrease in DIT’s gender pay gap in 2021.

Hourly wage

An important contributing factor to the continued gap is the pay disparity between men and women at each grade. Across all grades, except for SEO, the mean hourly pay received by male staff is higher than their female colleagues at the same grade. Differences of hourly wages by percentage range from 0.5% at SEO level to 13.5% at SCS 2/3/4 level.

Figure 3: Mean hourly gender pay gap by grade

Figure 3 shows the mean hourly rate for male and females by grades. Although the mean hourly rate across most grades remains higher for men than women, since March 2020, the hourly rate has increased by £0.55 for women and £0.38 for men. This year, there have been decreases in the pay gaps for EO, SEO, Grade 7 and SCS 1 grades. This has been particularly significant at SEO as it is the only grade where the GPG is in favour of females. The median hourly wage also shows progress in bridging the gap. At £22.04 for women and £24.72 form men, this shows an increase for women since March 2020 (+£0.71) and a decrease for men (-£0.65).

This improvement across most grades demonstrates how our approach to pay in 2020 to 2021, which targeted certain segments of our workforce, is having a direct and positive impact on our GPG.

Gender-grade composition

The number of men in grade relative to the number of women also contributes to the GPG. If the proportion of men and women in each grade were equal to the overall distribution, then the mean GPG decreases approximately by 58% compared with 70% last year.

Figure 4: Difference between male and female headcounts by grade, included in the GPG calculation

Figure 4 shows the difference between male and female headcounts of employees included in GPG calculations broken down by grade for this year (2020 to 2021) and last year (2019 to 2020). Positive values indicate that there is a greater headcount for males than females at that grade. Overall, there are 386 more employees included in the March 2021 ordinary GPG population compared to March 2020. This includes 201 more women and 185 more men.

The between grade contribution (which refers to the proportion of males and females across grades) continues to have the largest influence on the GPG. But as of March 2021, the between grade contribution has decreased from 72% to 56%. This is because female employees in EO to SCS1 has increased and make up 1% more of the relevant GPG total workforce than last year. However, overall, there is still a greater proportion of men at Grades 7 and above; this has increased further at Grade 6 thus contributing to the continued gap. Whilst targeted attraction strategies and talent development have had some impact, there is more to do increase female representation across all grades.

Contrastingly, the within grade contribution (the difference between mean hourly wages within the same grade) has increased from 29% to 42%. This is likely due to the increase in new female hires as new hires are more likely to be at the pay band minimum. Therefore, the increase in the within grade influences on GPG indicates that gender pay disparity within grades have become greater. But the relative reduction in the between grade influence is far greater, thus supporting the overall decrease in GPG.

New employees

Throughout the year, there have been more women hired (52%), than men (47%). This information comes with several caveats:

a. the assumption has been made that all employees recorded as ‘appointed’ have taken up post

b. not all new hires will be in scope for GPG reporting

c. some new hires may have left before the end of year

In line with best practice guidance, all SCS recruitment panels continue to be gender balanced and include a senior member of the Human Resources (HR) team to ensure fairness and impartiality. In addition, Independent Panel Members are mandatory on all recruitment campaigns below SCS level. In August 2021, the Civil Service Commission trained panel members to understand their role, the Civil Service Recruitment Principles and the department’s commitment to Diversity and Inclusion (D&I). We have driven accountability to hiring managers for SCS vacancies by seeking an upfront commitment on what they will personally do to attract a diverse candidate field. DIT continues to make use of gender-neutral text analysis software to check job adverts for gender biased words to make them more appealing to a wider, more diverse pool of talent.

Taking action

To continue reducing our GPG, we continue to deepen our understanding of the contributing factors, including the growth, and grade distribution of our workforce. Our gender pay gap action plan interventions are aligned to the actions described in guidance published by the Government Equalities Office entitled ‘Actions to close the GPG’.^{[footnote 8]}

HR have collaborated closely with the department’s GPG Taskforce. This is chaired by a Director-General and brings together senior representatives from across the department, together with the DIT Gender Network and HR colleagues. This group has been responsible for understanding what our GPG data is telling us, as well as taking forward the GPG action plan which focused on:

1. attracting diverse talent into DIT - developing a market leading recruitment brand and candidate attraction strategy to bring more female applicants from a range of backgrounds to senior roles and targeted professions

2. retaining brilliant women - creating a diverse and inclusive employee value proposition for all our people: an enterprising, expert, and inclusive culture with modern policies and an equitable reward and recognition strategy to support this

3. building a strong future talent pipeline - developing and maintaining a cohort of future senior female leaders by nurturing our talent and supporting the progression of women, including those overseas

Next steps

We continue to focus on attracting, retaining, and building diverse talent into DIT to ensure that the department has strong female leaders and role models. We’ll continue to focus on attracting high calibre women, developing them to meet their potential, to create a strong pipeline of future talent and providing career opportunities at all levels.

Our next steps are:

• integrating our GPG action plan into our wider People Strategy and Inclusion Framework delivery plans to optimise intersectional benefits
• progressing our programme of equality, diversity and inclusion in recruitment, prioritising improvements in the number of women in overseas positions
• refreshing the training offer to the pool of DIT employees who are Independent Panel Members on recruitment panels to ensure they are equipped to challenge and offer diverse perspectives
• embedding Respect at Work, creating an environment where all women are able to thrive in a culture of inclusion
• developing our modern approach to smarter working / hybrid working / flexible working that provides support for parents and carers, and a supportive environment that enhances health and wellbeing
• increasing our regional footprint of our workforce to support the Places for Growth programme in Darlington, Cardiff, Belfast, and Edinburgh to promote a more flexible work culture
• promoting social mobility and early careers using apprenticeships and DIT’s flagship International Trade Development Programme
• promoting the department’s Employee Value Proposition (EVP) and Employer Brand to promote DIT as an inclusive employer of choice
• actively encourage women to participate on talent programmes including the targeted Women in Trade Programme and Crossing Thresholds, alongside developing clear career pathways

Calculations and quality statement

Our calculations have followed the legislative requirements of the Equality Act (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017. The data reported is accurate as of March 31 2021 as extracted by our service providers, UK Shared Business Services and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in line with the Cabinet Office Guidance.^{[footnote 9]}

DIT’s workforce is based across the UK and overseas, on the OneHMG platform. As per the regulations, the March 2021 GPG analysis includes staff deemed to be full paid relevant employees based in the UK, on DIT payroll. It also includes overseas Civil Servants paid in the UK on the OneHMG platform. Locally employed staff overseas, contractors and agency workers are not included.

Part-time staff are included in the analysis, as the ordinary pay is calculated on an hourly pay rate. On the gender bonus pay gap, part-time staff are equally included as any end of year performance awards and in-year awards in DIT are not prorated for part-time staff.

Most Fast Stream staff working at DIT are centrally recruited and employed by Cabinet Office. This group will therefore be included in analysis of the GPG for the Cabinet Office rather than DIT.

Bonus data includes all end of year bonuses made for the 2019/20 performance year as well as in-year rewards made between 1st April 2020 and 31st March 2021. The GPG gap includes bonuses paid in the month of March, while all bonuses paid in the year 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021 (inclusive) are included in the gender bonus pay gap calculations.

Our report is also in line with the recommendations made from the Inclusive Data Taskforce report published in September 2021.^{[footnote 10]}

1. A ‘full pay relevant employee’ is an employee on UK based payroll on the snapshot date, 31st March 2021 who received their normal March salary. ↩

2. https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/bulletins/genderpaygapintheuk/2020 ↩

3. A ‘full pay relevant employee’ is an employee on UK based payroll on the snapshot date, 31st March 2020 who received their normal March salary. ↩

4. Cabinet Office, Civil Service statistics: 2021 ↩

5. Rounding means that percentages may not sum to 100%. ↩ ↩²

6. A ‘relevant employee’ is a person who was employed by DIT on the snapshot date, 31 March 2021 and received a bonus payment in the proceeding 12-month period. ↩

7. Reportable employee population for the ordinary GPG in 2019 includes all employees within both GPG and GBPG. ↩

8. gender-pay-gap.service.gov.uk ↩

9. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/gender-pay-gap-reporting-guidance ↩

10. https://uksa.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/the-authority-board/committees/inclusive-data-taskforce/inclusive-data-taskforce-report-leaving-no-one-behind-how-can-we-be-more-inclusive-in-our-data/ ↩