Network Rail has reported a 7.4% mean gender pay gap for 2023, down from 8.6% in 2022 and 9.9% in 2021.
The rail operator’s median gender pay gap for 2023 was 9.3%, down from 10.9% in 2022 and 12.9% in 2021.
Its mean gender performance-related pay gap for last year was -35.1%, with 45.5% of female staff and 26.9% of male employees receiving a bonus payment that year.
Network Rail has also published its 2023 gender pay gap by ethnicity. The gap between white male and black male employees increased by 1.2 percentage points to 10.8%, the gap between Asian and white male staff fell by 0.5 percentage points to 5.9%, and the gap for males from a mixed or other ethnic background versus white male workers decreased by half a percentage point from 5.7% last year.
In addition, the gaps between white males and females decreased within all minority ethnic groups, with the largest reduction for Asian background females at 3.1 percentage points, followed by a two percentage point fall in the gap for Black females and 0.8 percentage point fall in the gap for females from a mixed or other ethnic background. The gap for female employees from a black background was 14.1%.
The employer’s LGBT+ pay gap decreased from 5.5% in 2022 to 4% this year. One-third of the workforce disclosed their LGBT+ status and 1.8% shared that they are LGBT+.
Michelle Handforth, executive sponsor of Network Rail’s Gender Matters project, said: “Encouragingly, the reduction in our pay gap is a result of an increased proportion of women in our senior roles. But we know that there is still more to do. That’s why we’ve introduced new targets for female representation in our highest leadership positions, have remained committed to delivering our development programmes for women, and are working to make our application processes for roles more inclusive.
“Inclusion remains a core priority for us, and we have made great strides this year to support women’s physical and psychological safety, improve our facilities, and upskill our colleagues on allyship towards women.”