The RCPsych today (8 June) publishes the results of its 2020 gender pay audit, which we were determined to carry out despite the pandemic.
Over 50% of companies in the UK opted not to conduct gender pay audits after the government said employers didn’t have to, due to the challenges created by the Covid-19.
But the College committed to making time for the audit, as we saw it as an important issues and to do so is in line with our values.
The RCPsych’s 2020 gender pay review reveals that while 73% of the College workforce are women:
- 60% of people in the upper pay quartile are women
- 79% of people in the upper middle pay quartile are women
- 76% of people in the lower middle pay quartile are women and
- 76% of people in the lower pay quartile are women.
Internal analysis also shows that 84% of people who have been promoted at the RCPsych over the last three years are women.
Our gender pay audit looks at the median pay gap. The median is calculated by ordering male and female employees according to pay, then taking the person in the middle of each list.
The audit shows that the median pay gap between men and women at RCPsych is 13.9%, compared to the national average median pay gap of 17.3% in 2019.
Last year, the College median pay gap was 17%.
The gender pay review also shows that the mean pay gap at the RCPsych is 16.35%, down from 19% last year.
RCPsych President Professor Wendy Burn and Chief Executive Paul Rees said: “While our gender pay gap has been reduced over the last 12 months, it is still too wide.
“We have made massive progress in modernising and transforming the College over the last three and a half years, and that is why we won the award of Charity of the Year in the European Diversity Awards in 2019.
“But that doesn’t mean that we have done all we need to do. We are committed to taking further action to ensure gender equality.
“And want to ensure that all our decisions are informed by a values-based approach.
“So, consistent with the College values of Courage, Innovation, Respect, Collaboration, Learning and Excellence, we have agreed a wide-ranging action plan that will help us continue our work to ensure gender equality.
“We believe that our gender equality plan is far more extensive than most comparator organisations.”
The College’s gender equality action plan says that: “In line with our values, we are committed to ensuring gender equality in the workplace and will continuously strive to ensure equality of opportunity for women and men at all levels of the organisation.”
In the 18-point action plan, produced in collaboration with staff, the RCPsych is committed to:
- Adhere to equal opportunities best practice in recruitment – based on a competency (for all staff) and values-based (for pay band 4 and above) approach – ensuring that all appointments and internal promotions are made solely on the basis of merit.
- Follow an open and transparent approach regarding pay, with clear staff pay bands, a job evaluation process, regular benchmarking with similar employers, and pay awards that are made following a clear and transparent process.
- Enhance support delivered around career development, with the aim of assisting all individuals to achieve their potential – regardless of gender, ethnicity and other demographic variables.
- Offer a competitive total staff benefits package, including a comprehensive flexi-scheme, and flexible working opportunities available to all employees.
- Ensure a competitive rate of maternity pay.
- Extend maternity pay to cover adoptive parents.
- Provide mandatory training in equality and diversity, including in unconscious bias, for all managers and staff.
- Ensure the College has a designated SMT Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Lead.
- Support the work of the internal staff-facing Sexuality, Gender Equality and Inclusion Forum.
- Ensure equality and diversity is a regular item on SMT and Heads Group meeting agendas.
- Monitor the perception of staff – through our staff survey – of our effectiveness as a good employer, when it comes to promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace.
- Continue to show a sense of urgency on the issue of equality and diversity (for instance, by carrying out a gender pay audit and reviewing the gender equality plan, annually) and by guaranteeing that we will not become complacent.
- Continually review our performance so as to ensure that we are a truly inclusive employer with equal opportunities for all.
- Analyse the reasons why we have a gender pay gap at the College, on an annual basis.
- Take a zero-tolerance approach towards bullying.
- Aspire to ensure that all recruitment panels are diverse, with no single gender panels where possible.
- Monitor promotions made within the College on an annual basis, to assess the level of equality of opportunity,
- Underpin the College’s commitment to equality of opportunity, through up-to-date HR policies that align with equal opportunities best practice.