IPO gender pay gap
Updated 16 March 2018
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1. Intellectual Property Office – 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 data, using the Government Equalities Office methodology, on the snapshot date of 31 March 2017. For bonuses, we used the period of 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017, which was the 12 months preceding the snapshot date.
2. Gender make-up of the organisation
- 43% of the IPO’s workforce are women
- 29% of the IPO’s Senior Civil are women
3. IPO’s Gender pay gap
- Mean pay gap: 22%
- Median pay gap 29%
The IPO pay system covers Civil Service grades ranging from administrative assistant to Senior Civil Servant (executive level grade). 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. The longer period of time that someone has been in a grade, the more we would expect them to earn irrespective of their gender.
The comparison of mean and median pay in the IPO shows a gap in favour of men which is higher than the gap across the whole civil service which is 11.9% (mean) and 13.6% (median), but not dissimilar to the gender gap in the field of Intellectual Property where females specialising in STEM are consistently under-represented. According to estimates based on The Office of National Statistic Labour Force Survey and compiled by the WISE Campaign, women make up only 14.4% of the UK STEM workforce. Given our workforce profile then, and the industry from which we recruit, a gender gap of some sorts is not unexpected. Indeed, if we exclude our specialist STEM employees from the report, our mean and median gender pay gap is 12% and 11% respectively.
In addition to this, within the IPO, a significant proportion of men are employed at higher grading levels in technical specialist roles. A high proportion of women are part-time and employed at lower grading levels in support roles (corporate and operational) which skews the average. 72% of our part-time workers are women.
Whilst the overall mean and median gender pay is significant at 22% and 29%, the breakdown for each grading level shows a more positive story with a far less pronounced gap across specific peer groups (grading and specialism):
3.1 Median gender pay gap
| Median gender pay gap (hourly rate) | A1 | A2 | A3 | B1 | B2 | B2 Exr | B3 | C1 | C1 Exr | C2 | C2 Exr | D1 | SCS | IPO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men | £8.49 | £9.07 | £10.16 | £11.06 | £12.92 | £14.36 | £17.90 | £21.28 | £19.23 | £29.33 | £29.38 | £32.08 | £35.26 | £20.06 |
| Women | £8.49 | £9.07 | £10.16 | £11.06 | £12.92 | £14.36 | £14.98 | £19.21 | £19.23 | £27.77 | £28.49 | £31.44 | £36.77 | £15.73 |
| Median Gap | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 16% | 11% | 0% | 5% | 2% | 2% | -4% | 22% |
3.2 Mean gender pay gap
| Mean gender pay gap (hourly rate) | A1 | A2 | A3 | B1 | B2 | B2 Exr | B3 | C1 | C1 Exr | C2 | C2 Exr | D1 | SCS | IPO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men | £8.49 | £9.35 | £10.22 | £11.34 | £13.83 | £14.49 | £17.59 | £21.17 | £19.46 | £29.65 | £29.07 | £32.23 | £38.22 | £18.45 |
| Women | £8.49 | £9.15 | £10.13 | £11.08 | £13.33 | £14.33 | £15.65 | £19.81 | £19.46 | £28.23 | £28.54 | £31.26 | £37.62 | £13.15 |
| Mean gap | 0% | 2% | 1% | 2% | 4% | 1% | 11% | 6% | 0.03% | 5% | 3% | 3% | 2% | 29% |
Unsurprisingly, the biggest differentials can be seen in the B and C spans, which are dominated by our technical experts in STEM who attract a pay premium for their specific specialist skills. It is in these areas, as previously mentioned, that women are under-represented.
It should also be noted that, in March salaries, a high proportion of individuals in the IT cadre received multiple on-call payments as a result of a major product rollout that had taken place. As our IT department has a higher proportion of males to females, these payments that were paid during the snapshot period contributed to a differential in the gender pay gap that would, under normal circumstances, be smaller.
4. Bonus pay
- Mean pay gap 13%
- Median pay gap 58%
The IPO operates a reward and recognition scheme that is based on performance and is irrespective of gender.
The gap in bonus payments is mainly due to the fact that women are under-represented in our Senior Civil Service grades (women make up only 29% of the SCS), and are statistically, therefore, less likely to receive a performance-related bonus.
5. Work on eradicating the gender pay gap
We recognise that the significantly higher proportion of men within our more highly paid technical specialist cadre, results in a material gender pay gap on the basis of the required reporting methodology. We also recognise that the greater proportion of men in our highest grades is also reflected in the gender pay gap analysis. And, as an organisation, we are committed to fair pay irrespective of gender. We will continue to build on a number of actions and initiatives to reduce the gender pay gap, these include:
5.1 Returning to work
Support for women returning to work following maternity, through shared parental leave, job sharing, compressed hours, part-time, and term-time only opportunities.
5.2 Care arrangements
Encouraging men to take advantage of arrangements which enable them to fulfil their caring responsibilities, such as shared parental leave, part-time working and compressed hours.
5.3 Career progression
Ensuring that women have the opportunity and ability to progress in their careers within the organisation through talent management schemes, such as the Stepping into Leadership scheme and Positive Action Pathway.
5.4 Board development experience
We are part of the Future Board Scheme which, in partnership with the 30% Club, gives women from a wide range of background the opportunity to spend 12-months with boards in a development capacity. And, we will be placing one of our senior women on a FTSE350 Board, while also having an incoming candidate sit on our Steering Board.
5.5 Continuous improvement of our recruitment processes
The IPO has already anonymised the application process to reduce the potential for unconscious bias. We are now working towards ensuring that our interviewers have undergone some form of unconscious bias training.
5.6 Gender strategy at higher grades
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.