Transparency data

IPO gender pay gap 2023

Published 29 September 2023

1. Intellectual Property Office (IPO) - Gender pay gap

The IPO’s pay approach supports the fair treatment and reward of all staff irrespective of gender. This report gives the IPO’s gender pay gap (GPG) data, using a methodology fully aligned to the statutory reporting requirements, on the snapshot date of 31 March 2023. For bonuses, the period of 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 was used, which was the 12 months preceding the snapshot date.

The gender pay gap shows the difference in the average pay between all males and females in a workforce. If a workforce has a particularly high gender pay gap, this can indicate there may be a number of issues to deal with, and the individual calculations may help to identify what those issues are.

The gender pay gap is different to equal pay. Equal pay deals with the pay differences between males and females who carry out the same jobs, similar jobs or work of equal value. It is unlawful to pay people unequally because they are a male or female.

2. Gender make-up of the IPO

• 47% of the IPO’s workforce are female
• 29% of the IPO’s Senior Civil Service are female

3. IPO’s gender pay gap

• mean pay gap: 18% in favour of males
• median pay gap 26% in favour of males

The IPO pay system covers Civil Service grades ranging from administrative assistant to Senior Civil Servant (SCS). 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. Staff are expected to move through the pay range for their grade irrespective of their gender. The single biggest factor for the pay imbalance seen in the IPO, is the under-representation of women in specialist STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) roles and this is a national issue.

In fact, whilst the comparison of mean and median pay in the IPO shows a gap in favour of males which is higher than the national pay gap as of October 2022 which is 14.9% (median), it is not dissimilar to the gender gap in the field of STEM where women are consistently under-represented. According to estimates based on The Office of National Statistic Labour Force Survey and compiled by the WISE Campaign (2022), women make up only 26% of the UK core-STEM workforce and updated statistics by the WISE Campaign (2022) show that these figures have remained consistent with the previous year.

Given our workforce profile, and the industry from which we recruit, a gender gap of some sorts is not unexpected. Compared to other institutions of a similar size and makeup where there is a strong focus on STEM subjects, our pay gaps are comparable. These roles, which attract higher pay due their specialism, make up 35% of our total workforce and only 25% of these posts are held by women. If the specialist STEM roles were removed from the IPO’s analysis the pay gap would be 8% (mean) and 8% (median). The mean and median gap has been calculated using just annual base pay as at 30 June 2023.

In addition to this, a significant proportion of males are employed at higher grading levels whilst a high proportion of females are part-time and employed at lower grading levels in support roles (corporate and operational) which also skews the average. 70% of our part-time workers are female.

Whilst the overall mean and median gender pay is still significant at 18% and 26%, we are pleased to report a reduction in both the mean and median gender pay gap over the last year.

We have reported circa. 124 leavers in the last year (56% of males versus 44% females). Out of the reported leavers, 12% of females were on salaries of C1 grade or higher, whilst 25% of leavers that were males had salaries of C1 grade of higher. By contrast, 31% of males that were leavers were on salaries of B3 or lower. This has helped in part to lower the current gender pay gap.

Whilst the overall mean and median gender pay is still not satisfactory, the breakdown for each grading level shows a more positive story with a far less pronounced gap across specific peer groups:

	Mean Hourly Rate	Median Hourly Rate
IPO 2019/20	19%	27%
IPO 2020/21	18%	30%
IPO 2021/22	19%	27%
IPO 2022/23	18%	26%

Mean gender pay gap by grade (excluding market driven pay enhancements for specialists)

Mean gender pay gap (hourly rate)	A1	A2	A3	B1	B2	B2 Exr	B3	C1	C1 Exr	C2	C2 Exr	D1	SCS
Male	£10.55	£11.07	£11.95	£12.97	£14.80	£14.66	£16.52	£21.56	£21.54	£30.25	£30.96	£35.13	£40.57
Female	£10.55	£11.07	£11.95	£12.97	£14.82	£14.62	£16.50	£21.46	£21.56	£30.24	£30.90	£34.90	£40.36
Mean gap	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.13%	-0.27%	-0.12%	-0.47%	0.09%	-0.03%	-0.19%	-0.66%	-0.52%

Median gender pay gap by grade (excluding market driven pay enhancements for specialists)

Median gender pay gap (hourly rate)	A1	A2	A3	B1	B2	B2 Exr	B3	C1	C1 Exr	C2	C2 Exr	D1	SCS
Male	£10.55	£11.07	£11.95	£12.97	£14.71	£14.65	£16.44	£21.35	£21.43	£29.95	£31.30	£35.06	£38.97
Female	£10.55	£11.07	£11.95	£12.97	£14.65	£14.65	£16.44	£21.35	£21.52	£29.98	£31.30	£34.54	£39.75
Mean gap	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	-0.41%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.42%	0.10%	0.00%	-1.51%	1.96%

You can see from the tables that when we compare by grades there isn’t a significant difference. However, the biggest differentials can be found in our D1 cohort, one of our senior grades, where females are under-represented.

4. Pay by quartiles

Quartile	Female
First (lower) Quartile	63%
Second Quartile	56%
Third Quartile	38%
Fourth (upper) Quartile	31%

5. Bonus pay

95% of females and 94% of males were paid a bonus in the 12 months ending 31 March 2023.

• mean bonus gap: 5%
• median bonus gap: 13%

The IPO operates a reward and recognition scheme that is based on performance and is irrespective of gender.

6. Work on eradicating the gender pay gap

We are fully committed to fair pay irrespective of gender and recognise that despite our pay gap decreasing, there is still a lot of work to be done. Reducing the gap is complex and therefore needs consistent and proactive action. It is something that we, as an organisation, take very seriously and reducing our pay gap will remain an IPO priority until it has been brought to a satisfactory level which we know will take a number of years. Our action plan will see us focus on three key areas for this year:

6.1. Awareness and candidate experience

Our “Employee Value Proposition” work will look at our offering through an inclusion lens, ensuring we advertise the IPO as an inclusive brand and that our people’s first experiences of working in the IPO are ones where they feel welcomed and included. We will improve the ways we recruit focussing on skill and potential. We will use targeted recruitment activities and constantly evaluate the effectiveness of our job advertisements.

6.2. Review internal processes, procedures, and systems

We will remove any unintended bias from our processes, investing in more effective mentoring relationships, promoting opportunities for more flexible working and driving an increase in take up of Shared Parental Leave. Our Strategic Workforce Planning will use diversity data to design an organisation of the future that is the right size, shape and skill base to achieve our priorities over the longer term, one of which is to eradicate any pay gaps.

6.3. STEM impact programme

We are using outreach to increase the number of girls accessing STEM opportunities at primary and secondary age. We will also look to support women later in their careers through Returner and Career Switcher programmes. We will find ways to maximise our existing talent by finding pathways in to STEM for people without a STEM background, as well as raising awareness in Universities of STEM careers in the Civil Service.