OPDC Ethnicity Pay Gap Audit: March 2018 data
In line with the Mayor’s commitment to publish data on the pay gap affecting BAME employees across the Greater London Authority (GLA) group, the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) is publishing their second overall mean and median ethnicity pay audit. As a public sector body, the snapshot date for the data collection was 31 March 2018.
The OPDC is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive organisation that reflects the diversity profile of London. We welcome publishing the ethnicity pay gap information, and we are serious about tackling inequality as it relates to ethnicity and pay. We are clear that to address any areas of inequality we will need to regularly review our action plan and closely monitor ethnicity and pay.
The purpose of the ethnicity pay gap audit
The purpose of the ethnicity pay gap audit is to explore the extent of disparities of pay and ethnicity and look at ways to mitigate these. It is important to note that, due to the small size of the organisation, very small changes can have a significant impact on percentages and overall findings of the audit.
For the purposes of this audit the calculations used for ethnicity pay gap reporting are the same as the gender pay gap calculations, and we are publishing the overall mean and median pay gaps.
The OPDC has followed the gender pay gap reporting methodology to calculate the ethnicity pay gap as a percentage. The formula is below:
A – B x 100
A
where A is the mean/median hourly rate of pay for relevant White staff; and,
where B is the mean/median hourly rate of pay for relevant BAME staff.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission express the ethnicity pay gap as follows:
The pay gap is defined as the difference between the average hourly pay of ethnic minorities and White British people. When ethnic minorities are paid less, overall, than White British people they experience a pay gap. When they are paid more they experience a pay advantage. The pay gap is often expressed as a percentage difference between the pay of people from ethnic minorities and the pay of White British people, with the latter representing 100%.
The aim of the ethnicity pay gap audit
The aim of the ethnicity pay gap audit is to:
- review the data and identify where the ethnicity pay gaps exist
- mitigate against ethnicity pay gaps by way of an action plan
The OPDC is a single status organisation and does not have different staff groups. Salaries at the OPDC are determined through a job evaluation scheme (Hay). This scheme evaluates the job and not the post holder. It makes no reference to gender, ethnicity or personal characteristics of existing or potential job holders. Therefore, we are satisfied that the job evaluation scheme is a fair and transparent process that does not have any bias towards gender and ethnicity.
Headline Ethnicity Pay Gap Summary
The headline ethnicity pay gap data for OPDC in table 1 is broken down into ethnicity groups; BAME (Black, Asian, Dual, Other) and ethnicity group – White. As at 31 March 2018 the total number of permanent members of staff and staff on Fixed Term Contracts is 35. Of the 35 members of staff, 29% are from a BAME background, (17% in 2017) and 71% from a White Background (79% in 2017). We are reliant on accurate reporting to be able to provide a credible narrative and make the correct assumptions. We did not have complete reporting for the 2017 ethnicity pay gap report, with 4% of the organisation diversity unknown. The 2018 report has 100% reporting this which means that we have an accurate breakdown of diversity across the organisation.
Overall the calculations show there is a mean pay gap of 10.41% (2017: 31.51%) and a median pay gap of 17.14% (37.52% in 2017). This is a significant improvement, which is welcome. A number of posts that were previously covered on a secondment basis (including some senior BAME staff from the GLA) were recruited to and are included in this reporting period. As a result, OPDC has seen an increase in BAME representation across the organisation.
Table 1: Headline Ethnicity Pay Gap - White/BAME
Mean Ethnicity Pay Gap/Median Ethnicity Pay Gap
Tables 2 and 3 provide the mean and median ethnicity pay gap information respectively, by grade.
In order to interpret this data correctly, it is important to understand how the grades operate. Each grade has up to 5 incremental pay points and employees will normally start at the bottom of the scale and receive an annual increase until they reach the top of the scale. This means that the differences reflected within a grade will generally simply be a reflection of length of service. It also means that, while efforts should be made to address any imbalance in staff numbers within a grade, recruiting more employees from a BAME background is likely, dependent upon how vacancies have arisen, to increase any reported pay gap because new employees will be starting at the bottom of the scale.
Table 4 highlights the inherent risk in reporting data at a micro level for an organisation as small as OPDC – at two of the five grades where gaps can be measured, a pay gap becomes a pay advantage, dependent on the measure used and, at only one of the 5 grades (Grade 7), are the two measures comparable.
Three Grade 8 post-holders, one at Grade 10 and two at Grade 12 have received payments in respect of additional duties/responsibilities taken on during the period. In all other instances the pay gap results from differing lengths of service, as explained above.
There are significant imbalances, based on headcount of staff, at Grades 10, 14 and 15. OPDC will continue to look at ways to address the ethnicity imbalance. The organisation is small and turnover is relatively low. Therefore, as and when vacancies at these grades arise through our recruitment processes, we will make every effort to address the ethnicity pay gap at this level. We will appoint an executive search agency to assist with attracting talent from a diverse background. However, appointments are still to be based on merit.
Table 2: Mean Gap White/BAME
Grades 2, 3, 4, 5 ,9, and 11 - there are no posts at that level
London Living Wage, Grades 1, 14, and 15 - there are no BAME employees in these grades
Grades 13 – there are no employees from a White Background
Table 3: Median Pay Gap White/BAME
Grades 2, 3, 4, 5 ,9, and 11 - there are no posts at that level
London Living Wage, Grades 1,14, and 15 - there are no BAME employees in these grades
Grades 13 – there are no employees from a White Background
Table 4: Comparison between Mean and Median Pay Gaps by Grade
OPDC Ethnicity Pay Gap - Action Plan
Where appropriate OPDC will adopt the GLA’s action plan to address ethnicity and pay. In addition, to address the Ethnicity Pay Gap, OPDC will take the following course of action outlined below:
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