Leeds Arts University is committed to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and has well developed policies which support this commitment.
Staff regularly receive training so that they understand their legal obligations and this is embedded in their day to day work. As part of these legal obligations we are publishing this data in response to our responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017 which require us to report on a number of metrics as of 31 March in a given year. This is the University’s third report under the regulations.
Under the regulations the gender pay gap is the difference between the average pay (expressed as both the mean and median) of men and women expressed as a percentage and should not be confused with equal pay.
2020 Metrics
Mean gender pay gap - Women’s pay is 3.98% lower (2019 1.70%; 2018 2.62%)
Median gender pay gap - Women’s pay is 5.7% lower (2019 5.80%; 2018 5.69%)
The mean gender bonus pay gap - n/a (no bonuses paid)
The median gender bonus pay gap - n/a (no bonuses paid)
The percentage of men and women in each quartile of our payroll on 31 March 2020, 2019 and 2018, with quartile 1 being the lowest paid and quartile 4 being the highest paid is shown in the table below, with the previous 2 years figures provided for comparison purposes.
Quartile | Men | Women | ||||
| 2020 (%) | 2019 (%) | 2018 (%) | 2020 (%) | 2019 (%) | 2018 (%) |
Quartile 1 (Lower Quartile) | 38.2 | 41.9 | 43.5 | 61.8 | 58.1 | 56.5 |
Quartile 2 | 34.6 | 35.1 | 32.4 | 65.4 | 64.9 | 67.6 |
Quartile 3 | 42.3 | 43.2 | 40.6 | 57.7 | 56.8 | 59.4 |
Quartile 4 (Upper Quartile) | 43.6 | 45.9 | 49.3 | 56.4 | 54.1 | 50.7 |
The overall profile of our staff population on 31 March 2020 was 60.9% female and 39.1% male and is a slight increase in the number of females employed compared to previous years. The number employed by the University has increased to 312 staff employed on 31 March 2020 compared to 296 in 2019.
Context
The University is committed to Equal Pay, and operates a grade structure based on the New JNCHES pay scale which has 51 spine points. All roles outside the most senior staff are evaluated using the HERA job evaluation scheme. The salaries of senior roles are set by the Remuneration Committee which considers a range of metrics, external and internal data when setting pay levels. The Remuneration Committee’s Annual Remuneration Report to The Board of Governors for the Financial Year details these and is published on our website.
The HERA scores are mapped to the grading structure to ensure staff are remunerated fairly. There are 11 formal grade bands with a limited number of spine points in each, which allow for salary progression based on experience assuming that performance criteria are met and place an upper and lower limit on remuneration for a given band. This ensures that the equal pay provisions of the Equality Act 2010 are fully met. Each spine point is a differential of around 2.5% and the University participates in the New JNCHES national pay bargaining for cost of living increases.
Analysis
The mean gender pay gap has increased for the first time since reporting began having been from 3.63% in 2017; to 2.62% in 2018; and to 1.7% in 2019. This is disappointing, but has been caused by the profile of the increased staffing numbers on the census date, and fluctuations within the staff profile.
The median gender pay gap has decreased by 0.1% returning it to the levels of 2017 and 2018. It is however worth noting that this is due to the national pay scales, as median pay for women remains spine point 28 (the penultimate spine point of grade 5); and for men it remains point 30 (the bottom spine point of grade 6). This has remained the case since the University commenced gender pay reporting.
The core University staffing has continued to grow with the expansion in the course portfolio and associated numbers of support staff which combined with staff turnover and overall staffing profile continues to change, but there has been very little turnover in senior roles within the institution. There has been a reduction of 2 roles at Grade 10b with both male and female postholders not being replaced.
Considering the data on a quartile basis the following was observed:
In Quartile 1 (Lower Quartile) both the male mean salary and male median salary were slightly higher than the female.
In Quartile 2 both the female median salary and mean salary are higher than the male.
In Quartile 3 the female median salary is the same as the median male salary, but the female mean salary is lower than the male mean salary.
In Quartile 4 (Upper Quartile) both the female median salary and female mean salary are lower than the male.
This pattern has changed since the previous year. Where the male mean hourly salary is higher in three of the quarters it is by 16p an hour, and in quartile 2 the female mean salary is 78p an hour higher. The difference in the median salaries in each quarter ranges between 31p and 72p per hour.
Because of the above, the profile of the University’s staffing by grade is considered to be a factor in accounting for the ongoing median pay gap, as is the use of spine points. The majority of staff (239) are employed within roles which fall within grades 3 to 7. There are significantly more women employed in grades 3 to 7, and in particular within Grade 2 (£18,709 - £21,236), Grade 4 (£25,217 - £28,331) and Grade 5 (£29,176 - £32,817) as a proportion of that demographic of the workforce than there are men. The only grade where there are more males employed is at Grade 10b (the top grade on the pay spine) where there are 6 roles, two thirds of which are held by males.
It should be noted that there were 123 males employed on the census date which is only 1 more than the previous year despite the increase of 16 roles. New appointments are usually made to the bottom of the pay spine with pay progression based on performance criteria. The increase in the workforce size and number of women appointed has impacted on the female median salary when compared to the male.
As has been stated in previous year, whilst noting this analysis and the ongoing action in attempting to recruit men into lower graded roles may assist in its elimination, a complete eradication of a pay gap (with either gender being paid more) may be impossible to achieve with staff turnover and a grade band structure. The small numbers of staff involved make the data sensitive to small fluctuations. We will however continue to monitor the detail behind any reported figures and take action where appropriate.
Prior to publication these figures have been reported to our Senior Management Team and will be considered by our Equality Diversity and Inclusion Committee.