Gender pay gap reports

Our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) strategy, launched in March 2021, outlines our commitment to creating an equal, diverse and inclusive workforce, including a focus on identifying and addressing gender inequality and bias within the organisation.

Our gender pay dap data is an important (but not the only) measure of gender equality in our workforce, and one that will help to inform our plans and activities as we continue to work towards our EDI goals.

We are committed to reducing the gender pay gap at GOSH Charity and while we have seen some improvements, we recognise that there is still work to be done to become the equal and inclusive organisation we aspire to be.

Our most recent pay gap results cover the 2022/23 reporting period, with a snapshot date of 5 April 2023.

At 5 April 2023, GOSH Charity had 253 employees.

Our gender balance at this date was 193 women (77.5%) and 60 men (22.5%).

How we define gender in this report is based on HMRC payroll records, in the binary of 'male' and 'female'. However, we recognise that for some people, this may be a declaration of their birth sex rather than gender identity. We recognise there may be many people who do not identify themselves with these categories, for example, non-binary or intersex people.

We have submitted our data since gender pay gap reporting began. However, this year, for the first time, GOSH Charity became liable to publish our Gender Pay Gap details, as now we have a headcount of over 250. It should be noted, that in an organisation of our size, a small change in employee numbers can cause a significant shift in out Gender Pay Gap.

Our Gender Pay Gap data is an important measure of gender equality in our workforce and will help inform our plans and activities as we continue to work towards our EDI goals.

Like many charities, we have a predominantly female workforce; just over three-quarters of GOSH Charity's workforce is female, and our team of five Directors, led by CEO Louise Parkes, comprises four females and one man. Our Gender Pay Gap data for 2022-2023 is summarised in the graphic below.

• Our mean gender pay gap has increased slightly by 0.2% from 11.4% in 2022 to 11.6% in 2023.
• Our median gender pay gap has improved by 3.3% from 13.6% in 2022 to 10.25% in 2023.
• Our male representation has improved in the lower and lower middle quartile, by 2.6% and 1.5% respectively. This increase of males in the lower quartiles is favourable in reducing our gender pay gap.
• Our gender balance in the upper middle and upper quartiles remains stable, with a less than 1% change in each of these areas.
• Whilst our gender pay gap continues to close, we recognise that the gender imbalances in our pay quartiles continue to play a role in sustaining the gap i.e., we have too few females in the upper quartile and too many in the lower.
• One of the key drivers of gender imbalance in the upper quartile is the prevalence of specialist roles that tend to be more male dominated, e.g. technology. Therefore, achieving balance in all quartiles is an area of focus for us.

The Government refers to ‘bonuses’ in its reporting requirements. However, this is not the best description of our pay and award system as we do not pay bonuses to any staff.

However, here ‘bonuses’ cover the Above and Beyond the Call of Duty (ABCD) and long-service award vouchers we provide for staff recognition. Vouchers are generally in increments of £25, and most are £50 vouchers; five females and one male received awards higher than this between 2022-2023.

• Awards were made to 56 people; 77% were female, and 23% were male.
• Based on our total number of employees 22% of females and 22% of males received an award
• For males and females, the median is £50; out of those who got a £25 voucher, four were female, and three were male. Five females and one male received an award higher than £50.
• The median bonus gap remains at 0%, the same as last year. The mean bonus pay gap has reduced further from 19.4% to -16.9% (a 36.3% difference and the change from positive to negative meaning that the gap is in favour of females).
• The mean recognition for females was slightly higher at £12.18 than for males at £10.42. This is driven by two females receiving long service awards in 2022/23.

We remain committed to closing our gender pay gap and realise that although we see a yearly reduction in the median gap, which is the primary indicator of our progress, we can still do more. Last year, we:

1. Ensured our policy review took drivers of the gender pay gap into account: all policies that could have an impact were reviewed through an equity lens, including our family-friendly policies.
2. Focused our well-being efforts on areas that could impact female retention in the workplace. For example, we launched a Menopause and Menstruation policy with guidance for line managers on how we can support colleagues in this area.
3. Conducted an external benchmarking review as part of our Total Reward offer to ensure we are paying all employees fairly - resultant changes in our salary contributed to a reduction in our median gender pay gap. We have also increased transparency in our approach to promotion, pay, and reward processes.

This year, to continue our progress, we aim to:

1. Explore our Talent Acquisition processes to identify areas in which we could make a significant impact. This includes regularly monitoring gender diversity data at all points within our recruitment processes, as well as ensuring EDI best practices are embedded into our attraction, recruitment, and retention strategies.
2. We have recently launched a Women's Network at the Charity, which can be a helpful space for women to connect and share knowledge, information, and career advice. As well as having a space to voice any collective concern to the organisation.
3. Continue to review our policies to enhance inclusivity and avoid promoting gender bias in any flexible and family-friendly working arrangements.

GOSH Charity is an equal-pay employer, and we are confident that our gender pay gap is not the result of unequal pay between males and females for the same work or work of a similar nature; it results instead, as explained above.