Wiltshire Police has seen mean its gender pay gap widen by almost half a percent according to its Gender pay gap report 2021.
The police force, which currently employs 1,212 women and 1,151 men, reported an overall mean gender pay gap of 8.99% as of 31 March 2021, which has narrowed from 9.59% the year before. Meanwhile, its overall median gender pay gap, which is the mid-point hourly earnings of men and women in the workplace, was 9.56% as of 31 March 2021, a slight increase of 0.47% in 2020.
These figures are less than the national mean gender pay gap for all full-time and part-time employees, which was 15.4% as of October 2021, compared with 14.9% in 2020, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Its mean gender bonus gap stood at -107.27% compared to -26.15% in 2020, while its median bonus gap was -225% as opposed to 33.33% the year before. A total of 1.59% of male staff and officers received a bonus in 2021 versus 0.74% in 2020, whereas 0.52% of female staff and officers were awarded one, compared to 0.45% in the previous year.
Despite the organisation stating that men and women are paid equally at every grade, it has attributed the slight widening to be a result of more male than female officers joining in previous years.
Dr Paul Mills, deputy chief constable and force lead on equality, diversity and inclusion, at Wiltshire Police, said: “Gender balance is, and will continue to be, a key priority for me and our senior leadership team as we work hard to become a more diverse workforce, reflective of the communities we are here to serve. We open police officer recruitment in a few weeks’ time, and I encourage women to step forward and apply; it’s a challenging but hugely rewarding career.”