The national law firm, Stephensons, has reported a 24.02% mean gender pay gap for fixed hourly pay as at 5th April 2018.
The firm has reported its gender pay gap in line with the government’s gender pay gap reporting regulations and ahead of the private sector submission deadline of April 4th 2019.
The gender pay gap reporting regulations require organisations with 250 or more employees to publish the difference between both the mean and median hourly rate of pay for male and female full-time employees; the difference between both the mean bonus pay and median bonus pay for male and female employees; the proportions of male and female employees who were awarded bonus pay; and the proportions of male and female full-time employees in the lower, lower middle, upper middle and upper quartile pay bands.
Stephensons median pay gap for fixed hourly pay as at 5th April 2018 was 37.90%.
Its mean gender pay gap for bonuses paid in the year to 5 April 2018 is 0.9%, and the median gender pay gap for bonus payments is 21.2%. Over this period, 71.4% of female employees received a bonus payment compared to 28.6% of male employees. Stephensons’ bonus scheme is paid in May of each year and therefore not reflected in these reported figures.
Just over half (57%) of employees in the highest pay quartile at Stephensons are female, compared to 76% in the second quartile, 83% in the third quartile and 89% in the lowest pay quartile. Of its partner population, over half (52%) are women and in total 69% of the firms solicitors are female.
In addressing its gender pay gap, Stephensons is committed to engaging and developing its employees and encouraging greater diversity and inclusion through a range of initiatives. This includes the roll out of agile working across its offices and the promotion of flexible working opportunities for all employees. The firms approach to flexible working has significantly benefited its ability to attract and retain female members of staff.
The firm is also working to develop a new performance review process to ensure that talent is both recognised and rewarded. This will be supported by leadership development programmes for managers within the firm.
Ann Harrison, chairwoman at Stephensons, said: “At present, the vast majority of our support staff and admin teams are female, resulting in a higher than average mean gender pay gap for the firm as a whole. Of course we are focussed on addressing these factors and will continue to closely monitor the situation moving forward.
“While there is more work to do, we are proud that our work on inclusion and diversity is making Stephensons a stronger firm. Looking at the picture as a whole, it’s clear that women are well represented at all levels, in fact 73% of our total workforce is now female. We are committed to encouraging greater inclusion and diversity in our teams and I am confident that the policies and plans we have in place will ensure this good progress continues.”
ENDS.
“We confirm that Stephensons’ gender pay gap calculations are accurate and have been calculated in line with the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017”
