Gender pay gap report 2023

This report is prepared based on the workforce as of 31st March 2023 and the direct comparator period is 31st March 2022.

We confirm that the gender pay gap data contained in this report is accurate and has been produced in accordance with the guidance issued by the Department for Education. 

The purpose of the gender pay gap is not to highlight an imbalance in equality of pay for equal roles but to provide a comparison of the balance between males and females within our internal pay grade structure. 

Compared to 2022 our gender pay gap has increased by 0.1% from 1.5% to 1.6%

Declaration I confirm that our data has been calculated according to the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulation 2017.

Nikki Lawrence Chief Executive

Overview

The total number of staff on the payroll on 31 March 2023 was 629 compared to 617 in March 2022. 

We have a predominantly female workforce (76.94% in 2023 a slight increase from 76.17% in 2022), a change in the proportion of female to male staff, or vice versa can have a significant impact on the pay gender gap. The gap increased this year due to an increase in the number of males in grade 6 from 41.5% to 42.6% and grade 8 from 37.5% to 42.8%.

When recruiting, to ensure fairness to all, we appoint on merit and our focus is on aptitude and skills required to perform the role. We ensure that our recruitment processes remove unfair bias by ensuring that all application forms are anonymised before being assessed and we use structured interviews and skill assessment centres where appropriate. 

During our recruitment process we recognise the diverse needs of the various members of our workforce, and our fundamental principles are to ensure that equality, diversity, inclusion and fairness are embedded throughout Careers Wales.

Gender identity

We recognise that gender is more complex than “men” and “women”, it is likely we have staff members who do not fit within the binary categories and who may define themselves as non binary and others who may consider that they do not align with the gender they were assigned at birth. However, due to the legislation in place we have to report the gender pay gap in terms of men and women. We have used the right to work data provided at the start of employment to allocate staff to male or female for the purpose of this report.

Workforce Changes in this period

Compared to the 2023 workforce we are reporting an increase of 12 staff. The most significant change was in grade 3 where the staff numbers reduced from 50 in 2022 to 25 in 2023 due to the trainee careers advisors being regraded to grade 4 following completion of their studies to become qualified at level 6. Overall between grade 3 and 4 there was an increase of 12 female staff between 2022 and 2023 and a reduction of two males. There was very little change in the management grades 6 to 10.

Mean Pay Gap

The mean pay gap is calculated by adding up the hourly pay of all the women in an organisation and dividing by the number of women, doing the same sum for the men, then comparing the two figures. Although males only represent 23% of the workforce their mean wage is 1.6% higher than females. We have identified a number of reasons as to why this is the case. The proportion of males in the higher pay grades 6 and 8 are unrepresentative of the overall population, there are in excess of 40% males in post in these two grades, this has increased compared to 2022. The increase in these groups has been slightly offset by the increase in the number of males in grade 3. Resulting an over increase in the pay gap of 0.1%.

Median Pay Gap

The median pay gap is calculated by finding the exact middle point between the lowest and highest paid female in an organisation and the lowest and highest paid male, then comparing the two figures to calculate the difference in salaries. We are reporting a 0% difference in the median pay gap. From the grading structure detailed below (Figure 2) 64.38% of the female staff and 55.47% of the male staff are employed at grade 4, therefore the salary for both the male and female median member of staff is the same. Our core service provision consists of providing careers advice and guidance therefore the highest percentage of our staff, based on role are careers advisors at grade 4.

Pay Quartiles

The provision of Careers advice has historically been female dominated, and it will take some time to address this imbalance. 

The high percentage of females to males does not mean that we cannot reach pay parity, the key to a level playing field is the proportion of staff based on a quartile-to-quartile comparison. The ratio of staff females to males is 77:23 for the company as a whole, this has increased from 75:25 in 2021. However, as an organisation females only occupy 71.34% of the upper quartile posts, resulting in a gender pay gap of 1.6%.

Salary Structure

• The Company has negated gender impact on pay by entering all employees on the same point of the incremental scale, not differentiating pay between works of equal value and moving all employees through the incremental points at equal intervals.
• New employees or employees moving onto the salary grade structure always commence on the first incremental point of the grade for their role.
• There is no age-related pay
• The incremental scales are short, and the top point is reached in 4 years
• There is no salary point below minimum wage
• There are no bonuses
• No individual negotiation is entered into
• Employees automatically progress through the incremental scale on the anniversary of their appointment until they reach the top rate for their role. This is not negotiable and is not performance related
• Progression is not halted by family related leave (adoption/maternity/paternity etc.)
• Progression is also unaffected by periods of ill-health related absence
• Some roles have trainee grades where there is no progression to the qualified grade until the required qualification is attained
• The scale is linear and does not have different scales for corporate/delivery/technical roles
• Equal payment is made for work of equal value as independently evaluated
• Progression up the scale is by competitive application for promotional posts
• There is an appeals mechanism for use by individuals or groups

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