Gender Pay Gap Report 2022

As an employer of more than 250 staff, Royal Holloway Students’ Union has undertaken Gender Pay Gap Reporting, as required by the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information Regulations 2017).

We are pleased to report that the Students' Union has a 0% median pay gap, and a mean pay gap of 7%, which is significantly less than the UK average of 14.9% when reviewing the whole staff team. We are also proud of the fact that we have a good representation of female workers within our senior and middle management posts.

While a mean pay gap of 7% is a positive move towards gender equality in pay, it is important to understand the context behind the figures, which is outlined in the report. The data outlined relates to a 12-week snapshot period (the requirement of the regulations) from April 2022 for permanent staff and the 12 weeks prior to 5 April 2022 for casual staff.

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Equal pay vs gender pay gap

It is important to note the difference between equal pay and the gender pay gap. Equal pay deals with the pay differences between men and women who carry out the same jobs, similar jobs or work of equal value. The Gender Pay Gap shows the difference in the average pay between all men and women in the workforce, irrespective of the position held.

So why do we have a gender pay gap?

We’re confident that our gender pay gap does not stem from paying men and women differently. Rather our gender pay gap is the result of the following:

• Any organisation with a structure of Chief Executive leading a Senior Management Team will inevitably have some difference in gendered pay at the 100th percentile, unless the most senior post is held jointly by one male and one female, or by one female alone.
• Ahead of this snapshot period, the two most senior female staff resigned from the organisation. This created a wider gender pay gap at the 100th percentile and the upper quartile than we have seen in previous reporting periods.
• As an employer, RHSU provide several optional salary sacrifice schemes to the permanent staff team, which are routinely utilised more by female employees. Individual choice can therefore result in a gender pay gap even when staff are offered equal remuneration. It is possible that the increased opt in of certain benefits for female colleagues (like additional annual leave purchase) stems from societal gender roles whereby female employees carry more of the burden of home/child caring responsibilities.
• Pay progression at RHSU is determined by length of service, we see a clear trend in our staff team that male colleagues have higher lengths of service on average.
• Entry pay points at RHSU are dictated by a payscale, career grading selects the most appropriate grade for a role (before advertisement) but candidates at recruitment can negotiate which of the 7 spine points within a grade is most appropriate for them based on their skills and experience. We see a trend that female colleagues are less likely to negotiate a higher spine point within their designated grade upon offer, than male counterparts.

RHSU is passionate about fairness, equality and inclusion. Being ‘trustworthy’ is one of our core values and this is inherent in the decisions we make and the behaviours we exhibit. This is evident in the policies and processes we have in place for recruitment and pay:

• All casual staff are paid a fixed hourly wage irrespective of gender.
• All permanent staff are recruited to roles that have been through job evaluation, and sit within a defined salary scale, to ensure a fair structure.
• We have a pay policy in place with incremental increases to pay on an annual basis.
• We aim to maintain an equal gender balance in management and leadership roles.

Our next steps

1. We will review the opportunities offered to male and female casual staff, to understand the route cause for less progression to supervisor and duty manager roles that we would expect.
    
2. We will work internally to understand what we can do to retain female employees for longer, supporting more pay progression for them within defined pay grades.
    
3. We will work internally to review our approach to salary point entry offers and consider what steps we can take to best support all candidates in negotiating appropriate starting salaries within defined grades.
    
4. We will work with our staff teams to promote a non-gendered approach to accessing workplace salary sacrifice benefits and promote wherever possible partnership approaches to home responsibilities like childcare.
    
5. In the 2022 year, we will undertake an open external recruitment process for the Chief Executive post (covered on an interim basis in this snapshot period) to promote access to opportunities for female candidates.

If you would like to read the full report you can do so below.

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