Ethnicity pay gap

NCHA has made a commitment to reduce the ethnicity pay gap amongst its workforce.

The data below comes from a snapshot taken in April 2022. When calculating the ethnicity pay gap, NCHA calculates this as the difference between the median hourly earnings of white British colleagues and other ethnic groups as a proportion of those earnings.

The latest data

The mean ethnicity pay gap is 15.4% (15.4% in 2021)
The median ethnicity pay gap is 21.3% (18.7% in 2021)
The mean ethnicity bonus gap is -39.4% (5.1% in 2021)
The median ethnicity bonus gap is 0% (0% in 2021)
The proportion of White British colleagues in NCHA receiving a bonus is 15% (86% in 2021) and the proportion of ethnically diverse colleagues receiving a bonus is 13% (85% in 2021).

Pay quartiles by ethnicity

34% of people in the lower pay quartile are from an ethnic minority, and 66% are white British. (In 2021, the figures were 31% and 69%.)
31% of people in the lower middle pay quartile are from an ethnic minority, and 69% are white British. (In 2021, the figures were 28% and 72%.)
16% of people in the upper middle pay quartile are from an ethnic minority, and 84% are white British. (In 2021, the figures were 18% and 82%.)
16% of people in the upper pay quartile are from an ethnic minority, and 84% are white British. (In 2021, the figures were 15% and 85%.)

These figures have been calculated using the methodologies used in the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017.

Summary

This year the mean ethnicity pay gap has not changed from 2021, and the median gap has increased by 2.6%. In terms of bonus pay gaps, there is a negative pay gap this year, in favour of people from ethnically diverse backgrounds. In terms of the pay gap quartiles, ethnic minority groups are overrepresented in the bottom two quartiles and underrepresented in the upper middle and upper quartiles. These differences compared to the overall ethnicities at NCHA have been more pronounced over the past two years, in three out of the four quartiles, despite having a number of positive action recruitment initiatives in place.

NCHA’s ethnicity pay gap is higher than the 2019 ethnicity pay gap reported by the ONS, which, for the East Midlands is 6.9% (there is no more up to date report published). We are not complacent about this, and we are committed to continue to do everything that we can to reduce the gap.

Why we have an ethnicity pay gap

Most of the issues that contribute to NCHA's ethnicity pay gap are reflected in the UK economy and are not unique to NCHA:

The lack of ethnic minority groups in higher pay grades. At executive and senior manager level, representation remains at 0% and at the snap shot date, only 8.6% of managers were from minority ethnic backgrounds compared to a workforce where 24.5% of colleagues are ethnically diverse. This is despite the introduction of the Rooney rule and diverse panels, although it is recognised that these initiatives may take some time to impact upon the gaps that exist. This picture is replicated across the UK economy, as people from minority ethnic backgrounds and women are less likely to hold senior roles and more likely to be in front-line roles. We know that in the UK, ethnic minorities are more likely to experience educational and social disadvantage and are significantly more likely to work in zero hour contract roles than their white counterparts.
Occupational segregation. The divide between occupations is a factor for the gap. We know that most of our ethnically diverse colleagues work in Care and Support (73%) and few work in the maintenance service (3%). This is one example of how our pay structure reflects gendered role segregation and value.
Current complex pay arrangements. A review of the data by quartiles shows that our pay gaps are not just an issue of representation at manager level. For both gender and ethnicity, we do not have any significant pay gap in the lower quartiles. The gaps start in the upper quartiles, with the biggest gaps being in the upper quartile. Jobs in the upper quartile have colleagues from scale 4 upwards (i.e. in the region of £25k) indicating that the gender and ethnicity pay gaps are not just confined to senior managers or explained by the lack of female or ethnic diversity representation in more senior roles.

The ethnicity pay gap is different to equal pay

Equal pay deals with the pay differences between people who carry out the same jobs, similar jobs or work of equal value. It is unlawful to pay people unequally because of their ethnicity. The ethnicity pay gap shows the difference in the average pay between those who are white British and those who belong to a minority ethnic group in a workforce.

NCHA is committed to the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment for all colleagues, regardless of sex, race, religion or belief, age, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity, sexual orientation, gender reassignment or disability. As such, we use a job evaluation scheme to grade roles and determine pay.

Addressing the ethnicity pay gap

NCHA is committed to doing everything that we can to reduce the ethnicity pay gap. Reducing the pay gap is not a quick fix and it will be several years before we make further inroads into the improvement we have made to date.

Our actions to close the pay gap remain similar to those of previous years:

Continue to target an increase in the representation of women and ethnically diverse colleagues in higher paid positions, including at managerial level, through use of initiatives like the Rooney Rule and diverse panels
Ensure that development opportunities like leadership development and apprenticeships have representative numbers of women and ethnically diverse colleagues on them
Continue to use anonymised applicant data to reduce unconscious bias in recruitment
Continue to monitor workforce data to understand the impact of our recruitment processes on appointments to people manager roles in relation to gender and ethnicity.

We will continue working with colleagues, trade unions, EDI Panel and relevant forums to achieve these goals.