Retail organisation Asda has reported a 12.5% mean gender pay gap for fixed hourly pay across its 149,000 UK employees as at April 2017.
The organisation has reported its gender pay gap data in line with the government’s gender pay gap reporting regulations and ahead of the private sector submission deadline of 4 April 2018.
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.
Asda’s median gender pay gap for fixed hourly pay as at April 2017 is 8.9%.
Its mean gender pay gap for bonuses paid in the year to April 2017 is 52.5%, and the median gender pay gap for bonus payments is 21.5%. Over this period, 88.3% of female employees received a bonus payment compared to 85.3% of male employees.
More than a third (34.7%) of employees in the highest pay quartile at Asda are female, compared to 56.4% in the second quartile, 64.6% in the third quartile and 70% in the lowest pay quartile. Of its 149,000 UK-based employees, 57% are women.
Asda attributes its bonus gender pay gap to the fact that more men are working in senior job roles than women. Currently, 35% of the organisation’s senior leadership positions are fulfilled by female employees, which is an increase of 4% from the 31% of senior leadership positions occupied by women in 2014.
Asda’s analysis shows that 86% of its employee population are hourly-paid, store-based employees who are paid set hourly rates. Calculating its gender pay gap data relating to these set rates alone, Asda’s mean gender pay gap is 0.7% and its median gender pay gap is 0%. Additional analysis by Asda demonstrates that if full-time equivalent normalisation is applied to its bonus data, the organisation’s median gender pay gap for bonus pay is 5%.
To address its gender pay gap, Asda has introduced policies to encourage employees to consider gender diversity in relation to talent planning for all job roles, and to identify opportunities to accelerate female development through targeted talent pipeline programmes. Furthermore, the organisation has flexible working policies that are eligible for all staff.
All employees participate in inclusion training, and unconscious bias awareness training will have been rolled out to all managers by mid-2018. Asda also hosts a global Women in Leadership programme, which shares international best practice on activities to drive gender balance and development, as well as provides mentoring opportunities for female talent. Currently, the programme has a 75% female and 25% male membership.
Hayley Tatum, senior vice president of people at Asda, said: “Rates of pay and access to benefits and opportunities are the same at Asda, regardless of gender. [While] our gender pay gap is better than the national average, we recognise that, like many businesses, we have challenges when it comes to female representation in more senior roles, and that is something we’re committed to addressing.”
