Gender pay gap

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 gender neutral job evaluation scheme to grade roles and determine pay.

We are required by law to publish an annual gender pay gap report. The figures below come from our most recent snapshot, which was taken at 5 April 2022.

Facts and figures

• The mean gender pay gap is 13.3% (12.9% in 2021)
• The median gender pay gap is 19.6% (19.5% in 2021)
• The mean gender bonus gap is -31.6% (8.4% in 2021)
• The median gender bonus gap is -0.2% (0% in 2021)
• The proportion of male colleagues in NCHA receiving a bonus is 15% and the proportion of female colleagues receiving a bonus is 14%. (In 2021, this was 85% for both men and women.)

Pay quartiles

• 27% of people in the lower pay quartile are men, and 73% are women. (These percentages were the same in 2021.)
• 30% of people in the lower middle pay quartile are men, and 70% are women. (These percentages were the same in 2021.)
• 36% of people in the upper middle pay quartile are men, and 64% are women. (In 2021, 41% of people in the upper middle pay quartile were men, and 59% were women.)
• 46% of people in the upper pay quartile are men, and 54% are women. (In 2021, 44% of people in the upper pay quartile were men, and 56% were women.)

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

Summary

Compared to last year, the gender pay gap has increased. The mean average is 0.4% higher, and the median average has increased by 0.1%.

There is a very positive trend, however: in the area where the largest pay gap exists - the upper quartile - the pay gap continues to reduce at pace.

When it comes to bonuses, 2021 was an anomaly. Most colleagues received a bonus that year in recognition of their contribution during the pandemic. But in a typical year, bonuses tend to include long service awards, refer-a-friend recruitment incentives, and VIP awards, all of which could be argued to be non-traditional bonuses. In 2022, the average bonus gender pay gap was -31.6%, meaning that women received more than men in bonus payments.

Why we have a gender pay gap

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

• Women are under-represented in more senior roles at NCHA. Our workforce on the date of the snapshot is made up of 67% women. Women occupy 64% of managerial roles, and the percentage of those at executive and senior leadership groups is 35.7%. This picture is replicated across the UK economy, as women are less likely to hold senior roles and more likely to be in frontline roles.
• Occupational segregation, which remains what we consider to be the main reason for our gender pay gap results. Women are over-represented in lower paid care roles in NCHA. This is reflected in the fact that women are over-represented in the lowest quartiles.
• More women than men are part time. We know from previous years that the number of jobs performed on a part time or zero hour basis is higher in the lower quartile (around 47%) compared to the upper quartile (19%). However this differential is reducing and the move towards hybrid working may positively impact employment choices and flexibility.
• Current pay arrangements: a review of the data by quartiles shows that our pay gaps are not just a female representation issue. We don’t have any pay gap in the lower quartiles. The gaps start in the upper quartile, with the biggest gaps being in the upper quartile. Application of percentage cost of living pay awards across the workforce will mean that the hourly rate increases more for those higher up the pay scale. Because we have fewer women and ethnically diverse colleagues represented at the higher levels (upper quartiles) this results in higher pay gaps.

The gender pay gap is different to equal pay

Equal pay deals with the pay differences between men and women who carry out the same jobs, similar jobs or work of equal value. It is unlawful to pay people unequally because they are a man or a woman. The gender pay gap shows the difference in the average pay between all men and women 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 gender neutral job evaluation scheme to grade roles and determine pay.

Our gender pay gap is the result of the roles in which men and women work within the organisation and the salaries that these roles attract.

Across the UK economy, men are more likely than women to be in senior roles (especially very senior roles at the top of organisations), while women are more likely than men to be in frontline roles at the lower end of an organisation. Women are also more likely than men to have had breaks from work that have affected their career progression, for example to bring up children. Women are also more likely to work part time, and part time work is often concentrated at lower ends of the pay spectrum.

This pattern from the UK economy as a whole is reflected in the make-up of NCHA's workforce, where the majority of frontline colleagues are women, while the majority of line manager and senior manager roles are held by men.

Addressing the gender pay gap

Our actions to close the pay gap remain similar to those of previous years. The proposed steps to reduce the pay gaps over the next two years are as follows:

• 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
• Increase the number of men working in care and support and women in property services through apprenticeships
• Ensure that development opportunities, such as 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.