The report has been compiled according to the manner requested by the government information sheets that were issued and on the “snapshot week” containing the 5th April 2022..
The first point to note is the difference in the mean hourly rate of pay. As we run family orientated retail stores, most employees at sales assistant level and within the warehouse are female and part time. Women with families are particularly attracted to the flexible nature of the part time hours which enables them to arrange childcare more effectively or work around school hours. This is supported by the Quartile reporting where the Upper Middle (71% f / 29% m), Lower Middle (77% f / 23% m) and Lower quarter (44%f / 56% m), which contain most of the shop floor and warehouse staff, are predominately male. The Upper Quartile includes female administrative staff paid more than the shop floor / warehouse staff but not as much as the management and IT employees in the same quartile who are mostly male. As a family run company in its 2nd generation with most family members involved, many of the management team are male members of the family.
We are currently trying to attract a larger number of female store managers. Since last year we have created a positive slant on actively looking at all female applicants and allowing degrees of flexibility around family and care commitments removing the constraints of high childcare costs. Those that are more able to progress tend to be those that have family that can help cover the childcare. We prefer to promote within the organisation as prior knowledge of the organisation is a huge advantage.
A further aspect is that there are fewer female IT employees, or indeed applicants. In today's intense IT world, we have required, and acquired, more staff to be responsible for implementing and maintaining new systems, operating websites, and social media. As most applicants are male, this is reflected in our workforce.Also, in respect of the bonuses, although a higher percentage of male employees receive a bonus (7% f / 12% m), the pay gap is significant as the shop floor & warehouse staff receive smaller bonuses than the management and IT employees.
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Mean gender pay gap
-4.50% -
Upper F
55% -
Upper Middle F
71% -
Lower Middle F
77% -
Lower F
44%
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Median gender pay gap
0% -
Upper M
45% -
Upper Middle M
29% -
Lower Middle M
23% -
Lower M
56%