An index released today has revealed for the first-time which employers are doing best at achieving gender equality.
The Equity Index 2022/23 produced by Lead 5050, a cross-industry accreditation, uses official data on average salaries, bonuses, and pay at every level to give unique, in-depth insight into more than 10,000 companies and organisations.
Among FTSE100 employers, GlaxoSmithKline Services (GSK), is top of the rankings. The company has a very small median and mean overall pay gap, with even pay spread throughout all levels of the organisation.
In second place is IAG Cargo, a London-based subsidiary of the International Consolidated Airlines Group. ITV is represented twice in the top 10, withITV Breakfast Limited in third place, and ITV Studios Limited in sixth. Other employers in the top 10 include National Grid UK (fifth place), Royal Mail Group (seventh place), Pearson Education (eighth place), Rentokil Initial (ninth place) and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners UK(tenth place).
While GSK may have topped the FTSE100 list, it is not the highest-scoring employer overall. When smaller and public-sector employers are included, two share the top UK-wide spot: Registers of Scotland the Scottish equivalent of the Land Registry and Wykeham Staff Services, an employment agency based in Spalding.
The rankings also reveal clear differences in gender-pay performance between sectors. Employers working exclusively in public administration rank much higher, on average, than those in sectors like construction, finance and insurance, and IT and electronics.
Other sectors which score well on the Equity Index include social work, recruitment, retail and advertising.
Leanne Linacre, CEO of Lead5050, said: “Whilst the UK is a world leader in ensuring employers provide transparent data on gender-related pay, after years of progress, the gender pay gap for full-time workers has increased.
“At the same time, the number of job vacancies rose to a record level last year whilst the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite adversely affecting women who are having to reduce their hours of work because of the cost of childcare.
“Closing the gender pay gap would strengthen the economy as higher wages would encourage more women to either enter the labour market or extend their working hours.”
The index includes every organisation in the UK – whether public or private sector – that has more than 250 employees, as well as a number of smaller employers who have chosen to submit data on gender-based pay.
The Index’s data team uses these employers’ public submissions to identify their median gender pay gap, the mean gender pay gap, pay across different quartiles, and bonus payments. They use a weighted algorithm to convert this to an overall score that reflects how closely each employer is to an “ideal” state of complete gender pay parity.
This goes far beyond typical gender pay-gap rankings which use just one data point – overall median pay for men and women within an organisation.
Jackie Carter, Professor of Statistical Literacy at the University of Manchester, said: “The Lead5050 Equity Index provides a comprehensive snapshot of how well employers are doing on tackling the gender pay gap.”
