OPDC gender pay gap report: March 2018 data

OPDC welcomes the requirement for organisations to publish their gender pay gap information and to develop action plans to address inequality in gender pay. We are committed to creating a diverse and gender balanced workforce which reflects the diversity profile of London. The regulations stipulate that organisations of 250+ have a statutory requirement t to provide this information. Whilst this does not apply to OPDC as we are a small organisation, the Mayor is keen that all functional bodies regardless of size will report on gender and pay. This demonstrates a commitment to best practice and leading by example.

OPDC and the GLA Group were early adopters and OPDC published its first gender pay gap data in July 2016. The position has remained stable for subsequent gender pay gap audits including the 2018 results which remain positive. The results of OPDC’s audit demonstrate that overall women are still earning more than men. It is important to note that due to the size of the organisation, very small changes in staffing numbers can have a significant impact upon the percentages and overall findings of the audit.

OPDC is a single status organisation and does not have different staff groups. Salaries at 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 or any other personal characteristics of existing or potential job holders. Therefore, we are confident that OPDC is paying the same salary to roles of equal value.

As a public sector body, the snapshot date for the data collection was 31 March 2018. The audit of the mean shows a pay advantage of -1.31% (2017: -10.66%) while the median also shows a pay advantage, of -17.72% (2017: -20.66%).

In 2017 the staffing population was 29, in 2018 the number of staff increased to 35, this is due to a number of posts that were previously covered on a secondment basis from the GLA, and vacancies that have now been recruited to. During the reporting period we had a turnover of 13 new starters (nine women and four men) and a total of seven leavers (six women and one man), a percentage increase of 21%.

The data below represents the gender pay gap data for OPDC as at the end of March 2018, where there were 35 permanent employees and employees on a fixed term contract, all of whom are counted for gender pay gap reporting purposes. Of the 35 employees included in the data below, 57% are women and 43% are men.

Table 1: Overall gender pay gap (for all staff)

The national median gender pay gap for all workers is reported as 18.4% and the mean gender pay gap is 17.4%. OPDC has a negative overall median pay gap of -17.72%, and a negative overall mean pay gap of -1.31%.

The OPDC outcomes compare exceptionally favourably to the national picture and also against the London picture. The median gender pay gap for London is 16.8% and the mean figure is 22.0%. The national and London data are derived from the 2017 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) report.

The quartile data has been calculated in accordance with the methodology as set out in the regulations by “dividing the workforce into four equal sized groups and separating them according to the hourly pay rate, starting from lowest paid to the highest paid”. Given the small size of the organisation, this data should be interpreted with caution.

Table 2: Mean Hourly Pay

In 2017 there was a total population of 29 people (17 women and 12 men), and in 2018 a population of 35 (20 women and 15 men). We note that there has been significant shift in the lower quartile figures with a pay advantage of -27.30% (2017: 4.30%) – this is because the quartile includes two apprentice posts and both apprentices are male – and an upper quartile pay gap of 7.22% (2017: -26.22%) – due to the transfer of a GLA secondee to OPDC’s payroll and the recruitment of a male to a post previously covered by a male, TfL secondee. OPDC has recruited nine women and four men during the reporting period, also leavers were six women and one man. This has had a bearing on the data and noticeable changes in the lower quartile and upper quartile figures.

The data shows that this is a workforce where females are well represented across the organisation. Overall the changes are due to movement through staff turnover.

Table 3: Median Hourly Pay

The data shows that overall there are more females across the grades, with more females in each quartile.

At the senior staff level (upper quartile) the median pay gap in 2018 is 14.28% (2017: -37.13%). The figures show that there is pay gap at this level, and men are earning £5.31 per hour more than women. The explanation is provided under the Mean analysis, above.

The OPDC has chosen not to analyse and include pay in relation to its grading structure for the 2018 audit. This is because it is not possible to draw any meaningful conclusions from the statistical analysis of such small data sets.

£10,000 Salary bands Summary

In addition, the OPDC is also publishing the distribution of salaries across female and male staff in £10,000 increments up to £100,000 with those earning more than £100,000 in one group. This broadly mirrors information published in the Mayor’s Annual Report.

These tables contain information as at 31 March 2018 and do not include any of the OPDC Board and Committee Member appointments.

Table 4: Distribution by gender in £10,000 increments

The table below shows the data broken down into equally sized salary groupings. These tables contain information as at 31 March 2018. Whilst not necessary for gender pay gap reporting it provides an illustration of the gender distribution of the staffing population across the salary groupings. This ratio between the highest and lowest paid is 5.7:1 when OPDC Apprentices are included in the information. OPDC currently employs an Advanced Apprentice and a Higher Apprentice. The Advanced Apprentice is on a lower salary than the Higher Apprentice. For the purposes of this report, and when looking at pay ratios we have referred to the Advanced Apprentice salary which is £19,679 per annum in accordance with London’s Living Wage. If this group is excluded the pay ratio changes to 3.5:1.

The data shows that females are well represented across the groups.

Table 5: Salary distribution by gender

The salary distribution by gender shows that overall females are well represented, across the four salary groupings.

As part of OPDC’s key priorities we will continue to closely monitor gender and pay, and carefully identify where we need to focus our efforts to ensure that the progress made with gender and pay will be maintained. More specifically recruitment for vacancies that arise at a senior level will be carefully managed and we will engage Executive Search agencies to ensure that we achieve gender-balanced shortlists. However, appointments are still to be based on merit. In addition, and where appropriate the OPDC will adopt the GLA’s gender pay gap action plan.