Equality, diversity and inclusion (ED&I) is central to our people strategy at Emperor, and we’re committed to continually reviewing and deepening our efforts. We know that the right focus on equality, diversity and inclusion is fundamental to our ongoing success.
Companies with 250 or more employees must publish their gender pay gap data each year. We’re only now over 250 people but we’ve chosen to report this data for the past two years to be more transparent and conduct what is a very useful analysis. At its simplest, the gender pay gap is described as ‘the difference between the average earnings of men and women across a workforce.’ It’s also important to note that ‘gender pay gap’ and ‘equal pay’ aren’t synonymous. When we talk about equal pay, we mean when men and women perform the same work (or work of the same value), they must be paid the same. Emperor pays equally. Earlier this year we published our salary bands internally and that exercise illustrated that point.
The gender pay gap analysis is just one data point that we use as a reference for our actions in the ED&I space. It is an incredibly useful indicator for areas of the business that we need to investigate and improve. Just like the insights we source from our disability survey data or the reporting from our Belonging Index survey. If we can get the ED&I focus right, then we should expect an outcome with appropriate representation across all demographics, not just gender.
Our 2022 mean pay gap was 13.2% and the median pay gap was 8.8%. When we compare 2022 to 2021, there has been a significant reduction in the mean pay gap of 8.6% and a reduction in the median pay gap of 10.1%. It’s clear that the figures this year show positive movement. But it’s important to look beyond the headlines.
There is more insight when we begin to explore the distribution of male and female employees in each of the four equal quartiles. In the lower quartile we have 63.6% female but by the time we reach the upper quartile, that’s reduced to 49.3%. We know there are internal and external factors that influence this so the key takeaway for us is to ensure we’re helping women progress through the quartiles.
On the whole, there is positive movement and we can say with confidence that:
- Men and women are paid equally for doing the same role at Emperor.
- Progressing to a senior role in Emperor is not affected by your gender.
- There are external factors that contribute to these figures.
- We are going in the right direction and continuously working towards maintaining a fair gap.
Our 2022 mean bonus gap was 22.5% and median bonus gap was 29.4%. As an employee owned business, bonuses in Emperor come in the form of a distribution from the Employee Ownership Trust. Under the terms of the legislation, all employees must be treated on the same terms. Each individual's bonus is calculated on a formula based on salary and length of service.
There is still significant and ongoing work for us to do in the ED&I space and the gender pay gap is just one slice of the data pie. In 2023, we’re renewing our commitments to ensure we keep a razor-sharp focus in this space and will be regularly reviewing our data to ensure we are being proactive and continuing to hire and retain a diverse group of talented partners.
This statement confirms that the published information is accurate at the time of publishing and is signed and authorised by Kingsley James, Director.