A new snapshot of pay across Bath & North East Somerset Council has been published.

The annual Gender and Ethnicity Pay Gap report is a snapshot of data taken from March 31, 2022.

It shows the workforce profile was almost 61 per cent female and just over 39 per cent male - and that job roles across the council were varied.

The report says on March 31 2022 the mean average hourly rate of pay for females was £15.78 and for males £16.09 - a gap of 31p which is a decrease on the 79p difference in the previous year.

However, by contrast, the median pay for female employees as of 31 March 2022 was 82p higher than for males - they earned £13.43 per hour whilst females earned £14.25 per hour.

The median figure is considered a more representative way of measuring the gender pay gap.

For the first time, the council is also calculating and publishing figures on the ethnicity pay gap in the council.

It shows that on 31 March 2022 the mean average hourly rate of pay for staff identifying as white was £16.23 an hour, whereas for staff identifying as ethnic minority it was £15.20 - a gap of £1.03.

However, the median figures show the pay of people self-identifying as white was £14.25 per hour while employees self-identifying as ethnic minority was £14.62 per hour - 37p higher.

The gender pay gap is different to equal pay. Equal pay relates to men and women receiving equal pay for equal work. The gender pay gap is concerned with differences in the average earnings of men and women, regardless of their role or seniority. It is a broader measure that captures the pay inequalities resulting from differences in the sorts of jobs performed by men and women in the workforce.

Will Godfrey, Chief Executive of the council, said: “The council provides a wide variety of services to our local communities and has a wide variety of job roles in its workforce. We are committed to understanding and tackling pay gaps within the workforce and this year we have introduced voluntary ethnicity pay gap reporting.

“We continue to support senior leadership and management development programmes across all groups. This includes the Stepping Up programme - a leadership programme aimed at aspiring leaders from ethnic minority backgrounds. We also champion the Springboard Development Programme designed specifically for female employees considering leadership roles. This, combined with flexible working practices including the genuine opportunity for many colleagues to work in a blended way to suit their lives, has helped us to address some of the issues that influence pay gaps.”

Bath & North East Somerset Council is committed to showing leadership and organisational commitment to equality and employing a diverse and engaged workforce and these are two key objectives within our Equality Improvement Plan. 

The council has a clear policy of paying employees equally for the same or equivalent work using the HAY job evaluation analytical methodology to ensure a fair and consistent pay evaluation structure.

A series of short films celebrating the work of our diverse team members can be found here.

Statutory guidance from the Government Equalities Office states that any employer with 250 or more employees on a specific date each year (the ‘snapshot date’) must report and publish their gender pay gap data within a year of the snapshot date.