Forth Valley College Equal Pay Audit 2014 FORTH VALLEY COLLEGE EQUAL PAY AUDIT 2014

Transcription

1 FORTH VALLEY COLLEGE EQUAL PAY AUDIT 2014 GRAEME STEPHEN PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT NORTHGATEARINSO REWARD SOLUTIONS 19 DECEMBER

2 CONTENTS 1. Introduction Page 3 2. Equal Pay Audit Page 3 i. Gender Pay Analysis Page 3 ii. Disability Pay Analysis Page 7 iii. Ethnicity Pay Analysis Page 9 iv. Religion Pay Analysis Page 11 v. Sexual Orientation Analysis Page Step 5: Action plan and Recommendations Page 12 2

3 1. Introduction This report presents an Equal Pay Audit assessment as at 19 December 2014 for Forth Valley College. i. Gender Pay Analysis. Firstly an overall examination of the gender breakdown of the population sets the scene. Within the overall staff population of 640 employees, 360 are female (56%) against 280 male staff (44%). It is also important to identify the gender split by grade. 3

4 The above table clearly demonstrates the dominance on the Lecturer category, in particular those employed in Grade L9. This grade is gender balanced in terms of numbers of males and females but it is of significance that the gender pay profile does not present any pay gaps within this large group. The S support staff grades are generally female dominant across the range with the exception of Grades 5, 9 and 11. The Pay Gap In the assessment of equal pay risk, the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) advise that any gender pay gap within a defined equal pay work group of greater than 5% is of concern and action be taken to address this gap. A gap of between 3-5% is cautionary and the reasons for this be investigated. Any pay gap is a concern, but we shall focus on any significant or cautionary pay gap. The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations states that a listed authority must publish pay gap information. The pay gap information is the percentage difference between men s average hourly pay (excluding overtime) and women s average hourly pay (excluding overtime). This is produced as one set of comparative figures for the whole workforce. Staff including part-time and temporary employees are included. 4

5 All salaries are presented as annual pay to a full-time equivalent value. This is important in as much as for comparison purposes, all part-time staff must have their pay raised to fulltime equivalent values. i. Male v Female pay The first comparison is to identify any pay gaps in favour of male employees. Equal Work Group Male Female Avg Total Hourly Avg Total Hourly Difference ( ) Pay Gap (%) MA We note an overall pay gap in favour of male employees of 7.28% at full-time hourly rate equivalent salary. The key to an equal pay audit assessment is whether any notable pay gaps within each equal pay work group rather than any overall pay gap percentage. From this perspective we note a significant pay gap in Group 2. In order to examine the causes of these gaps we need to isolate each area of concern. The following is a highlighted summary of the main findings which identify the significant or cautionary pay gaps against the proposed pay structure. 5

6 Equal Pay Work Group 2 -Pay Gap FTE 8.84%. The presented pay gap is as a result of the payment of shift to a group of male Facilities Assistants. Without shift payments, no pay gap would be highlighted. In examining gender pay variances we do need to reverse the comparison to ensure we do not reverse equality risks thus: ii. Female v Male Base Pay Equal Work Group Female Male Avg Total Hourly Avg Total Hourly Difference ( ) Pay Gap (%) MA Of the equal work groups, we note significant pay gaps in favour of female employees in Group MA and 10. Equal Pay Work Group MA -Pay Gap FTE 32.31%. This group of 16 employees have no job evaluation reference for inclusion in a valid equal work group. As the above group of employees have no grade or job evaluation reference point, we are unable to confirm a valid equal pay comparison measure. Although a small group, it is important that Modern Apprentices and Student Association Workers have a valid job evaluation reference. At this point in time they do not. 6

7 Equal Pay Work Group 10 -Pay Gap FTE 6.15%. The above pay gap is caused by the inclusion of an external consultant employee within the dataset and is not valid. ii. Disability Pay Analysis An overall examination of the disability breakdown of the population sets the scene. At this stage, it is particularly important to stress that clear conclusions relating to disability pay are limited due to the very small population of employees who have declared a disability (35 employees out of a total of 567 who have a declared disability or 7.9%). This small representative sample does not allow us the opportunity to identify clear patterns. However we can examine a top level overview of those who are disabled in comparison with those who are not. With a disability pay audit we are not concerned should a positive pay gap be noted in favour of disabled employees so we will concentrate on any areas where a negative pay gap exists. The Pay Gap: 7

8 Equal Work Group Non- Disabled Avg Total Hourly Disabled Avg Total Hourly Difference ( ) Pay Gap (%) N/A The College has an overall pay gap in favour of non-disabled employees of 7.16%. Within each equal pay work group, a number of pay gaps are presented but it is important to note the small number of employees with a declared disability is only 35 and as such, statistics will be indicative only. Equal Pay Work Group 2 -Pay Gap FTE 5.3%. The pay gap is created by the fact that the one employee confirmed with a disability does not work a shift pattern. On basic pay only no concern is noted. Equal Pay Work Group 7 -Pay Gap FTE 9.69%. This apparent pay gap is as a result of a recently recruited Disabled employee currently paid at the minimum point of Grade 7. Incremental progression will resolve this pay gap. Equal Pay Work Group 8 -Pay Gap FTE 17.88%. This apparent pay gap is a data anomaly and should be disregarded. 8

9 Equal Pay Work Group 5 -Pay Gap FTE 3.49%. This cautionary pay gap is due to relative placement of disabled employees within the pay band. The majority of non-disabled employees are on SCP 26 and we have one Disabled employee on SCP 21. Incremental progression will resolve this pay gap. iii. Ethnicity Pay Analysis An overall examination of the ethnicity breakdown of the population sets the scene. Like Disability, a pay gap analysis is influenced by the fact that we have a relatively small declared ethnic minority group to compare to the dominant ethnic population (White and/or Scottish). The employment profile includes 479 White and/or Scottish employees with a total of 19 other ethnic groups in total. Therefore any patterns are unlikely to be conclusive. In addition we have 63 employees without a declared ethnicity. The Pay Gap For this purpose identifying what comparison should be made is open to debate. For this illustration a summary is presented whereby any adverse pay gap is identified in comparison with those who the declared dominant ethnicity, in this case White and/or Scottish as their ethnicity. 9

10 Equal Work Group Ethnic Majority Avg Total Hourly Ethnic Minority Avg Total Hourly Difference ( ) Pay Gap (%) N/A The College has an overall pay gap in favour of ethnic minority employees. However this is materially impacted by the small relative numbers recorded. Significant pay gaps in favour of the ethnic majority are reported in Groups 6 and 8. Equal Work Group 6 Pay Gap FTE 5.84% The pay gap is created due to the relative placement of ethnic minority employees within Grade 7. Incremental progression will resolve this pay gap anomaly. Equal Work Group 8 Pay Gap FTE 5.68% The pay gap is created due to the relative placement of ethnic minority employees within Grade 8. Incremental progression will resolve this pay gap anomaly. 10

11 iv. Sexual Orientation Pay Analysis An overall examination of the sexual orientation breakdown of the population sets the scene. The declared profile of sexual orientation does not allow for meaningful statistical analysis. In effect we have 7 employees declared as non-heterosexual. 252 employees have made no declaration. There is not enough data to make an analysis appropriate. v. Religion Pay Analysis An overall examination of the declared religious breakdown of the population sets the scene. 11

12 The above analysis identifies Christianity as the majority religious group with no religion the second most dominant group. Other religions account for 25 employees. 256 employees have made no declaration against the religion category. As such any patterns on pay are likely to be of no validity. 3. Step 5: Action plan and Recommendation: Forth Valley College do not have any significant exposure to equal pay challenge. The major job groups which are gender dominant do not present major concern in relation to widespread challenge one role referenced against another. The issues that have been presented relate to identified individual role pay gaps and structural grade issues. The Equal Pay Audit for Forth Valley College contains the following main recommendations based on the sectional analysis above: i. Grading Structure The recommendations previously noted in the audit of 2012 remain in effect. 12

13 It is recommended that consideration be given to a review of Grade 5 and 6 to reduce both the scale of overlap and the number of increment steps applied. This can be done in stages over an extended period. It is also recommended to remove additional overlapping points as follows: Grade 3 remove SCP 13 Grade 8 remove SCP 32 i. Application of Job Evaluation for Modern Apprenticeships: A small group of Modern Apprenticeships have no job evaluation reference and as such, cannot be confirmed in equal pay terms within the pay structure. The College is encouraged to define a reference job evaluation score for these roles for subsequent audit analysis. ii. Data Availability In this audit report, an analysis has been attempted by Religion and Sexual Orientation. However data limitations mean that any statistics are effectively meaningless due to the limited data available. This is not uncommon and is not a criticism of the College. However, until more comprehensive data is collected and available for these categories, no notable conclusions will be drawn on pay equality for these comparisons. In general terms, however, Forth Valley College operate in an environment positive to gender pay and the above issues are generally structural ones to support pay equity and the risks are relatively low should these not be enacted. Graeme Stephen Principal Reward Consultant Northgate Arinso Reward Solutions 19 December