Forestry Commission gender pay gap report: Report for the year 2020-2021
This report outlines the Forestry Commission's gender pay gap and bonus pay gap figures.
Applies to England
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You can download the report as a PDF above, or read a text version of the report below.
Gender Pay Gap Report
This gender pay gap report for the Forestry Commission covers the period 1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021. It publishes the mean and median gender pay gaps, the bonus pay gap and the proportions of male and female employees in each pay quartile.
The gender pay gap shows the difference in the average pay between all men and women in a workforce. If a workforce has a particularly high gender pay gap, this can indicate issues to address such as less women working in higher pay bands.
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.
The Forestry Commission is committed to equality of opportunity for all and will continuously strive to reduce the gender pay gap.
FC Gender Mix
- 42% of the FC workforce is female
FC Gender Pay Gap
- Mean pay gap: 4.6%
- Median pay gap: 6.1%
The average (mean) hourly rate for males is 4.6% higher than females. The median gender pay gap is lower than the mean gender pay gap at 6.1%. This means that of all the male and female employees of the Forestry Commission, the middle male salary is 6.1% higher than the middle female salary. This has decreased since the 2018-2019 pay gap publication which previously had a Mean of 8.7% and a Median of 5.71%.
Bonus Pay Gap
The Forestry Commission only operates a performance bonus for the senior staff group. There was only 1 bonus payment paid to 1 male.
Pay Quartiles
Proportion of men and women in each hourly pay quartile.
- All staff Women 42%, men 58%
This measure excludes staff not on full pay at 31 March 2020 (e.g. statutory maternity pay, long term sickness or unpaid career breaks)
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Lower Quartile Women 46%, men 54%
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Lower Middle Quartile Women 47%, men 53%
Upper Middle Quartile Women 38%, men 62%
Upper Quartile Women 38%, men 62%
The lower quartile of staff comprises 42% female staff and the upper quartile comprises 38%. This compares with the wider Forestry Commission population of 42% female (the Forestry Commission workforce is split 57.54% male and 42.5% female. These numbers cover all staff including those not on full pay at 31 March 2021 e.g. statutory maternity pay, long term sickness or unpaid career breaks). To reduce the pay gap further we would need to see more women in the upper pay quartile.
Causes of the Gender Pay Gap at FC
Forestry work has historically attracted fewer female candidates than male candidates. This is particularly the case in forestry operational roles. This imbalance is improving and the proportion of female employees has increased over the past few years from 35% to 42%. In 2005 the gender pay gap at the Forestry Commission was 21%. Significant work has been undertaken over recent years to reduce this to the current position.
Working to reduce the Gender Pay Gap
The Forestry Commission is committed to improving our gender pay gap and has a number of programmes underway looking to reduce it, these include:
Narrowing of Pay Ranges
The 2019 and 2020 pay review have resulted in one grade a spot rate and narrowed ranges at several other grades. This has resulted in those grade ranges to narrow the gender pay gap, and when pay remits allow, further activity will be undertaken to continue this progress. The 2021 Civil Service wide pay freeze will not allow further significant work in this area.
My Offer
My Offer is a programme which is reviewing our offer to staff. This includes everything from pay and benefits through to staff wellbeing and development. Part of this programme is looking at operational roles and whether anything can be done to improve the pay scales. Any changes achieved in this area will support a further reduction in the gender pay gap.
Women in Forestry Programme Board
The Women in Forestry programme was formed in 2019 to make positive changes for women in our workplaces and ultimately make the FC a more attractive place for women to work. Using feedback gained from focus groups held across the country, the programme’s priorities are to:
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Stamp out inappropriate behaviours within the FC: The outcome from this should be all staff feeling that leaders genuinely have a zero tolerance approach and this behaviour is observed by all.
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Create a culture of positive challenge: The outcome from this should be all staff knowing how to positively challenge inappropriate behaviours and being confident to do so.
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Strengthen personal safety and security: The outcome should be staff are respected as they go about their work. Actions including zero tolerance communications requiring the public and external organisations who we work with to treat our staff with respect (similar to hospitals/trains) will help achieve this.
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Improve welfare facilities and protective clothing/ personal protective equipment (PPE): The outcome should be consistency of welfare standards and provision across the organisation, with PPE suitable for both men and women.
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Manage and inspire our people: The outcome is great management behaviours and actions, by managers who also feel supported to do a great job. Work on developing an FC wide managers’ development programme is underway.
FC Policy and Procedures
Through the application of our policies and procedures we are continuously striving to reduce the gender pay gap. For example, we have been considering the language used in job adverts across the board but particularly in senior roles. We want to widen the pool of who applies for senior roles. In Forest Research, there are science promotion procedures. We are ensuring that the panel is balanced and checks are made at each stage of the process to check for fairness (e.g. part time working/career breaks).
An extensive overhaul of all of our policies took place in 2021, ensuring inclusive language and strengthening policies which may be of benefit to women including but not limited to family related policies.
Equally Yours
We are continuing to roll out diversity and inclusion training for all staff through the interactive board game Equally Yours. This will ensure that all employees understand the importance of diversity within their teams and will have increased confidence challenge any bias, stereotypes, or discrimination around gender. By the March 2022, at least 40% of our workforce will have completed this training with an ambition to expand even further.
Inclusion Ambassadors
Through our Inclusion Ambassador programme we are equipping our staff to have regular conversations in their teams around inclusion and to call out any discriminatory practice they may see. We are working towards an ambition of an Inclusion Ambassador in every team, ensuring that all staff have someone to report to and gain advice from should they witness inappropriate or discriminatory behaviour towards women or other groups.
Professional Managers Programme
Our Professional Managers Programme (PMP) launched in September 2019 to support the growth of future leaders for the organisation. Its aim is to provide a consistent approach to leadership and management development, thus advancing opportunities for all. Open to managers at pay bands 5, 5 ops, 4 and 3, the Professional Manager Programme has been designed for the Forestry Commission, taking the very best in tools, materials and facilitator input the market has to offer. Due regard has been paid to ensure balanced gender representation for both nominees and mentors participating in the programme. The programme presents an opportunity to nurture the leadership skills of women in the lower and middle quartile pay bands.