Accountancy organisation Kingston Smith has reported a mean gender pay gap of 7% for fixed hourly pay as at 5 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.
The median gender pay gap for fixed hourly pay is 0% as at 5 April 2017.
The mean gender pay gap for bonuses paid in the year to 5 April 2017 is 52.1%, and the median gender pay gap for bonus pay is 50%. Over this period, 33.2% of men received a bonus payment, compared to 18.6% of women.
More than a third (37%) of employees in the highest pay quartile at Kingston Smith are women, compared to 64.8% in the second quartile, 57.4% in the third quartile, and 43.5% in the lowest pay quartile. In addition, 26% of the organisation's current total partner population is female.
Kingston Smith has stated that it is confident that its pay gap does not stem from paying men and women differently for the same or equivalent work. However, it has attributed its bonus gender pay gap to the higher proportion of male trainees in a recent cohort of trainee accountants, who are employed on a formal training contract that includes structured career progression and pre-determined bonus payments. In total, bonuses account for 2.2% of Kingston Smith's overall salary costs.
The organisation has introduced numerous measures in order to promote gender diversity within the business. This includes enhancing maternity pay to attract and retain female employees, revising the flexible working policy to promote a better work-life balance for staff with caring responsibilities, and introducing an expectant and new parent forum to support employees before, during and on return from maternity and other parental leave. Kingston Smith will also launch a school partnering pilot scheme with secondary schools and colleges local to the organisation's six operating sites to raise awareness of career opportunities within the professional services sector.
Furthermore, the organisation already carries out extensive pay and benefits reviews twice a year and evaluates job roles and pay grades to ensure the pay structure is fair.
Maureen Penfold, managing partner at Kingston Smith, said: "As a firm we embrace diversity, we think it's good business strategy to have an inclusive workplace culture and flexible working patterns. Unsurprisingly perhaps, a happy consequence of creating such an environment is a minimal gender pay gap among our staff."
Victoria Green, HR manager at Kingston Smith, added: "It's great to see how well the firm performs against the economy as a whole in terms of the gender pay gap. Flexible working arrangements help us retain and attract a broad range of talented people. But we're not complacent and continue to review and update our practices regularly."
