« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
CHAPTER 2: GENDER PAY GAP
Introduction
2.1 Despite over 30 years of equal pay and sex discrimination legislation there is still a pay gap between women and men.
2.2 We know from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings ( ASHE) 2007 that the gender pay gap in Scotland is currently 15%, based on the average (or mean) hourly earnings for full-time staff (defined as working over 30 hours per week). The median figure is 12%. However, there are wide variations between the gender pay gap in different sectors. The pay gap ranges from 2% (based on hourly earnings) in sales and customer service occupations to as high as 28.1% (based on hourly earnings) for managers and senior officials.
2.3 There are many reasons behind the gender pay gap: unequal pay; undervaluing of women's work; sex discrimination; occupational segregation; the differences in the patterns of male and female employment; unavailability of quality part-time, job-share and other 'alternative' working pattern' posts; unavailability of affordable childcare provision; previous employment histories; levels of qualifications and working practices e.g. access to developmental training, bonus schemes, progression and also the 'long hours' culture.
2.4 We cannot achieve gender equality if we do not address the issues which cause and contribute to the pay gap. While progress has been made over the years more still needs to be done to close the gap and, in recognition of this, the Scottish Government identified the gender pay gap as one of its gender equality scheme objectives.
What we said we would do
2.5 We made a commitment within the Scheme to continue to work in partnership with a wide range of organisations to support the 'Close the Gap' campaign and to encourage other employers to put their pay structures to the test.
2.6 To ensure that the Government leads by example and addresses any equal pay issues within its own pay policy and structures we set out our intention to undertake an equal pay review in 2007; to publish our equal pay statement by 28 September 2007 and to address, to the best of our ability, the concerns raised during consultation about the scope and effectiveness of these reviews.
What we've done
(Also see chapter 4 on occupational segregation and chapter 5 on childcare, caring and flexible working)
Close the Gap
2.7 The Scottish Government has continued to participate (together with the Scottish Trades Union Congress, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the Equality and Human Rights Commission) in Phase 2 of the Close the Gap project.
2.8 As part of its targeted work on the Finance Industry, Close the Gap has continued to be represented on a sub-group of the Scottish Government's Financial Strategy Implementation Group, the sub-group being tasked with reviewing evidence of the gender pay gap in the Finance Industry (where it is particularly large) and recommending actions to address the issues. The project has also worked with HBOS and National Australia Group Europe on a number of pieces of work to identify the causes of the gender pay gaps within their organisations and identify how these might be removed.
2.9 As part of its targeted work on the Higher and Further Education Sectors (which also have large pay gaps), Close the Gap provided advice, training and support to Higher Education Institutions and Scotland's Colleges, enabling them to address the causes of equal pay, carry out equal pay audits and comply with the general and specific requirements of the Gender Equality Duty.
2.10 We granted Close the Gap an extension of funding to 30 June 2008 (formerly agreed only until end December 2007) and the project is being invited to bid for funding 1 July 2008 - 30 March 2011 under our new funding arrangements.
2.11 There has been the odd fluctuation over the years in the general downward trend of the pay gap and this happened again in 2007. The full-time gender pay gap 1 in Scotland increased slightly (the mean from 14% in 2006 to 15%, the median from 10% in 2006 to 12% 2). However, there were still increases in earnings for both men and women in Scotland. The increase in the gap was mainly caused by higher increases for men than women in the Managers and Senior Officials' occupation group, and particularly in the Associate Professional and Technical Occupations. Also, the private sector had higher increases than in the public sector and, given that a considerably lower proportion of women work in the private sector compared to men, this has a large effect on the gender pay gap in Scotland.
2.12 If we compare women working part-time with men working full-time, the pay gap 3 is 34% based on the mean (a drop from 35% in 2006) and 37% based on the median (the same as in 2006) 4.
Other initiatives
2.13 Within the NHS we are continuing to implement Agenda for Change (AfC) , a major Change Programme to modernise pay structures, assist service delivery of patient care, aid recruitment and retention and allow for personal development of staff. AfC will also ensure that staff receive equal pay for work of equal value. Implementation is well under way with the majority of staff now assimilated to AfC pay bands. Data on gender pre and post AfC has been collected and is being used to ensure there are no gender equality issues in moving staff from Whitley arrangements to Agenda for Change.
2.14 Pregnancy discrimination is a contributing factor to the gender pay gap. We have continued to support work to raise awareness amongst pregnant women and employers of their rights and responsibilities through a 3 step action plan - step 1 distribution of "Pregnancy and Work" leaflet; step 2 toolkit for employers; and step 3 support for small to medium-sized enterprises.
2.15 Step 1 - Following informal oral feedback that distributing the UK leaflet, "Pregnancy and Work", as an insert of the Royal College of Midwives' ( RCM) publication "Together We Care" might not be the ideal method of distribution for Scotland, the Scottish Government paid for a reprint of 20,000 copies of the leaflet and, on the advice of RCM Scotland, these were distributed during the period October - December 2007 by RCM Scotland via the MAT B1 pack, which is given to all pregnant women in Scotland early in their pregnancy. DBERR ( UK Department which leads) is liaising with the Scottish Government regarding method of distribution for 2008 and beyond.
2.16 Steps 2 & 3 -The Scottish Government also provided a contribution of £2k towards the costs of the Equal Opportunities Commission's ( EOC) awareness-raising initiative about maternity rights, leaflet, and EOC toolkit, which was targeted at reaching employers of a small or medium-sized workforce, who can find it more difficult to manage pregnancy effectively. The Government also liaised with the Business Benefits of Equality Team within Scottish Enterprise about its promotion of the "Pregnancy and Work" leaflet and toolkit to employers with a small or medium-sized workforce.
As an Employer
2.17 Internally, we published our equal pay statement before the legal deadline and have recently completed our fourth equal pay review, which was conducted in partnership with the trade unions. The review found that the Scottish Government pay gap overall had narrowed. No areas of significant concern were uncovered but the report made a number of recommendations which will be taken forward in the coming months. Recommendations included:
- The Scottish Government should continue monitoring and reviewing its pay system to ensure it is free from discrimination.
- The next review should focus on gender and age. Disability and ethnicity should also be included but only where there are sufficient numbers to allow a meaningful analysis to be completed.
A further audit of the pay system will be undertaken during 2008.
2.18 As an employer, the Scottish Government continues to enhance its data collection and monitoring on caring responsibilities and staff working patterns. Our new e-HR system, introduced in autumn last year, now allows us to collect information on those staff who are participating in our childcare vouchers scheme. It also allows us to collect information on the range of working patterns offered by the Scottish Government and this data can now be disaggregated by gender and other equality strands, which was one of the recommendations from our fourth equal pay review.
2.19 To ensure we are capturing accurate data, and as these aspects of the system are largely self-service, we will continue to encourage staff to use this function to record their personal information. More on this is included in the childcare, caring and flexible working section.
« Previous | Contents | Next »