Gender pay gap report submitted March 2018

Women’s hourly rate

Pay Quartiles

Declaration

I confirm that the figures published today on behalf of the North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust (NWAS) are in line with the gender pay gap reporting legislation are complete and accurate, to the best of my understanding.
Signed: Michael Forrest
Title: Deputy Chief Executive and director of organisational development
Date: 29/3/18

Explanation of our figures

A snapshot date of 31 March 2017 has been used for this first gender pay gap report, in line with other NHS trusts and public bodies. For this year, and moving forward, employees who have informed us that they do not self-identify as male or female are omitted from the calculations.

The calculations that have been published show an hourly average pay gap of 7.1% between male and female employees. The hourly median rate of pay reveals a 6.3% difference in pay.

We are satisfied that the terms and conditions of service offered to staff, alongside the job evaluation system in place, fulfils the purpose of attractive and non-discriminatory conditions. It also fits with a satisfactory interpretation of equal pay for work of equal value.

Reporting on this data has also considered the gender mix of staff in four groups; the highest earning, lowest earning and two groups in between. For those in the lowest of the four pay brackets, there is nearly the same amount of male and female staff –50.55% female and 49.45% male employees. This shifts to more men than women being paid in the other three quartiles, with the gap between the sexes greatest in the top paying bracket, which sees 33.27% of women and 66.73% men. This mirrors national trends and is also a key reason for the gender pay gap with a majority of men occupying positions in the upper quartile. Not forming the published figures, but of interest, is that 65.28% of our part-time workers are female and 34.72% are male.

Work to date

Work is ongoing to encourage female career progression, particularly in operational roles. Examples of activity include the in-house Women in Leadership Conference in 2016 with over 150 delegates and the work of the Women in Leadership network. The future workforce is considered as part of this too.  International Women’s Day 2018 was celebrated by NWAS over the week with over 20 schools in the North West being visited by members of staff with the specific aim of highlighting the ambulance sector as a possible career option.

The most recent annual monitoring figures, up to 31 December 2017, show overall figures of 46.5% female staff to 53.5% male staff. The percentage of female workers has continued to increase over recent years, with the proportion of women rising by 5% over the last four years including their representation in managerial and higher paid roles.

Across service lines, there are significant differences in the make-up of the workforce, ranging from 38.3% female staff in Paramedic Emergency Services (up from the previous year) to 73.7% female staff in 111 contact centres (a reduction from the previous year). In areas of the service where women are underrepresented, improvements are being seen in levels of representation in managerial and high paid roles.

With regards to recruiting staff, in the 12 months to 31 December 2017, 58.6% applications were from female candidates. This then translated into 55.5% of new starters. We continue to review our recruitment processes with a view to eliminating the prospect of any discrimination.

The percentage of part-time staff has increased too, rising from 18.1% of staff last year to 19.5% this year, which we view as a positive move.

Plans to improve the experience of female staff

We are committed to all staff being able to fulfil their potential in work. Our vision is to be inclusive in all workforce processes but we acknowledge that there are particular needs of particular groups; in this case, we look at gender disparity. Male and female staff have a role to play in improving the work experiences of female staff, and a reduction in the pay gap will be an aim of this work. The efforts to address the gender balance across the pay quartiles will focus on three main themes: recruitment processes, promoting flexible working for all staff and also work relating to the enablers and reducing the barriers of female career progression.

The gender pay gap action plan will be reviewed quarterly and progress will be overseen by the Director of Organisational Development.