Gender Pay Gap

As an employer with a workforce of 250 employees or more, we are required by law to publish annual information relating to the gender pay gap in our organisation under the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017.

The following data, which has been accurately calculated following statutory guidance, is Paragon Skills first mandatory publication based on a snapshot date of 5 April 2024. This information will be published on the Gender pay gap service (a government website) as well as on our website.

What does the Gender Pay Gap mean?

The gender pay gap measures the difference between men and women’s average earnings. It does not take into account people’s roles or seniority.  The gender pay gap is not the same as equal pay which means that men and women performing equal work, or work of equal value, must receive equal pay.  An employer with an effective equal pay policy can still have a gender pay gap. For example, this can happen if the majority of women are in lower-paid jobs.

 

Gender split

On 5 April 2024, Paragon Skills employed 303 colleagues of which 233 (77%) were female and 70 (23%) were male.

Pay gap figures

Paragon Skills results (based on the snapshot date of 5 April 2024 and the 12 months ending on this date) are shown below:

  • The difference in mean hourly pay is +26.5% (women’s mean hourly pay is 26.5% lower than men’s)
  • The difference in median hourly pay is +14.26% (women’s median hourly pay is 14.26% lower than men’s)
  • The difference in mean bonus pay is +64% (women’s mean bonus pay is 64% lower than men’s)
  • The difference in median bonus pay is +57% (women’s median bonus pay is 57% lower than men’s)
  • The percentage of female employees who have received bonus pay in the 12 months ending on 5 April 2024 is 64.8%
  • The percentage of male employees who have received bonus pay in the 12 months ending on 5 April 2024 is 60%

 These results are influenced by the fact that we employ significantly more women than men.

Note on median and mean:

Medians are useful to indicate what the ‘typical’ situation is as they are not distorted by very high or low hourly pay (or bonuses). However, this means that not all gender pay gap issues are picked up. They could also fail to pick up as effectively where the gender pay gap issues are most pronounced in the lowest paid or highest paid employees.

Mean averages are useful because they place the same value on every number they use, giving a good overall indication of the gender pay gap. But very high or low hourly pay can ‘dominate’ and distort the figure.

Pay quartiles

Pay quartiles are calculated by splitting all colleagues into four even groups according to their level of pay. Looking at the proportion of women in each quartile gives an indication of women’s representation at different levels of the organisation.

The percentage of colleagues in each hourly pay quartile who are men or women is shown in the table below.  There are more women than men in each quartile except the Upper Middle one. A higher percentage of colleagues in the lower pay quartiles are women than in the upper pay quartiles, which is one of the factors contributing to the difference in mean and median hourly pay of men and women.

Percentage of colleagues who are men and women in each hourly pay quartile

Women Men Total Women Men
Top 47 29 76 61.84% 38.16%
Upper Middle 57 67 124 45.97% 54.03%
Lower Middle 62 14 76 81.58% 18.42%
Lower 67 9 76 88.16% 11.84%

Declaration

I confirm that the gender pay gap information published in this written statement and submitted to the Gender pay gap service is accurate and has been calculated according to the requirements and methodology set out in the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017.

Andrew Johnson

People Director

 

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