Gender Pay Gap Report 2022
Contents
- Forward
- What is the Gender Pay Gap?
- Acora’s Gender Pay Gap (Statutory Requirements)
- Gender Bonus Gap
- Closing the Gender Pay Gap
1. Forward
I am pleased to publish our gender pay gap report for 2022, based on data from a snapshot date in April 2022. Acora has always been a company enriched by a diverse and talented team, and one of our aims is to pay all employees equitably regardless of an individual’s gender, ability, age, race, religion or belief.
We are committed to ensuring there are equal opportunities within the workplace and through the recent introduction of our Career Framework, we believe we are making significant progress in promoting our employees organically, and through this structure, we have the framework in place to ensure we pay equitably.
We welcome the transparency of publishing our gender pay gap figures as it gives us the chance to learn from the data and also allows us to identify what measures we can put in place to drive improvement. We are determined to focus on key areas which are realised not just by the data but also by the internal engagement with our employees to understand the enablers and barriers to development and promotion.
With 83% (2021 – 86%) of our employees being male, we appreciate that our gender pay gap of 21.5% (mean) / 22.5% (median) (2021 – 25.98% (mean) / 42.44% (median) continues to be higher than the national average of 14.9% (15.1% in 2021), although we are pleased to report that our median gender pay gap has decreased quite considerably by 19.94%. We continue to be determined and committed to improve the figures for next year.
Our strategy is centred around continuous improvement and development, characteristics which underpin what Acora stands for, particularly when it comes to our employees, so committing to an improvement plan will ensure that we continue to enjoy a diverse and inclusive workforce which is vital in driving our long-term business success and delivery of sustainable growth.
Gary Page, Chief Financial Officer
2. What is the Gender Pay Gap?
The Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017 requires all companies by law with more than 250 employees to carry out gender pay gap reporting on a snapshot date each year (5th April). On the snapshot date, 5th April 2022, Acora continues to meet the requirement to publicly report our gender pay gap analysis.
The gender pay gap is calculated as the difference between average hourly earnings (excluding overtime) of men and women as a proportion of men’s average hourly earnings (excluding overtime). It is measured across all jobs and does not compare the difference in pay between men and women doing the same or equivalent job, known as equal pay.
3. Acora’s Gender Pay Gap
STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS
The Mean Pay Gap
The mean pay gap is the difference in the average hourly pay for women compared to men within an organisation.
Acora’s overall gender pay gap by mean average is 21.5% (2021 – 25.98%) in favour of men. This means that across our total workforce, on average, men at Acora are paid 21.5% more than women, or for every £1 that a man earns, a women will earn £0.78p (2021 – £0.74p).
The Median Pay Gap
The median pay gap represents the middle point of the hourly pay rates. The median figure is calculated by lining up all of the women’s hourly pay and all of the men’s hourly pay – the median pay gap is the difference between the hourly rate for the middle woman as compared to that of the middle man. The median figure is considered to be a better indicator of ‘average’ earnings or typical pay because the mean pay gap can sometimes be skewed by fewer individuals earning more in the upper ranges.
Acora’s median gender pay gap using hourly rates is 22.5% (2021 – 42.44%) in favour of men. This means that men at Acora are paid 22.5% more than women, or for every £1 that a man earns, a woman will earn £0.77p (2021 – £0.58p). This represents a material change since 2021 and is down to the organic growth of the business and the acquisitions it has made which has helped redress the balance.
Gender Representation
Our Gender Pay Gap figures are calculated on a workforce that is 83% male & 17% female (2021 – 84% male and 16% female).
Pay Quartiles
The pay quartiles below show the percentage of male and female employees in each hourly pay quarter – lower (Q1), lower middle (Q2), upper middle (Q3), and upper (Q4).
Acora’s workforce is predominantly male and is the main reason for our gender pay gap. Being a Managed Service Provider within the IT industry, it has always proven difficult to recruit women and our experience is reflective of the broader Technology sector. Women within our organisation are more likely to work in support and administration roles, many of them on a part time basis which is illustrated by the data in the Lower Quartile Pay Band. We have steps in place, as outlined later in this report, to ensure that Acora are playing their part in driving change.
4. Gender Bonus Gap
12.24% (2021 – 70.80%) of men were awarded a bonus
13.79% (2021 -74.42%) of women were awarded a bonus
The mean bonus pay gap is 68.33% (2021 – 31.13%) in favour of men, or in value terms, on average, for every £1 that a man receives in bonus pay, a woman receives £0.32p (2021 – £0.69p).
The median bonus pay gap is –185% (2021 – 10.31% in favour of men) in favour of women, or in value terms, on average, for every £1 that a man receives in bonus pay, a woman receives £2.85p (2021 – £0.90p).
As the median bonus pay gap gives a better indication of the ‘average’ bonus pay, this year it shows a significant increase in favour of women than the mean bonus pay gap. The figures for 2022 differ considerably to those reported in 2021 and cannot be directly compared to this year’s figures as in 2021 a bonus was paid to every eligible employee in December 2020 – no bonus was paid in 2021/2 up to the snapshot date. Bonuses are rarely paid at Acora and the figures reported for 2022 are based purely on commissions, long service and people awards.
5. Closing the Gender Pay Gap
Engagement & Transparency
• Continue to regularly review and monitor pay across Acora and address any inequalities
• Ensure pay decisions on recruitment are evidence based, fair and equitable
• Continue to focus on our wellness at work programmes reviewing our approach to smarter and hybrid working that promotes flexibility for all including those with family and caring commitments
• Continue to partner with the Social Mobility Foundation participating in their Employer Index to assess how we can build an environment where aptitude and ability, not background or birth, determine how far people progress
Recruitment
• Continue to develop our brand and ensure that all job vacancies are advertised to as wide an audience as possible using a range of job boards and sourcing approaches
• Continue to operate skills based assessments and structured recruitment approach for all internal and external candidates
• Full transparency of all vacancies across Acora for employees to apply for internally
• Continue to partner with schools, colleges and universities to actively promote Early Careers at Acora to drive engagement with students and advocate careers in IT
Career Development & Learning
• Continue to embed a learning and development culture to ensure all employees have access to learning and development opportunities regardless of their gender, background or other characteristics
• Ensure our internal Career Framework where roles have been evaluated and assigned a level according to the skills required is the foundation for our promotion process
• Continue to drive our one-to-one KPI to ensure that all employees have a minimum of 10 development conversations with their line manager via our Clear Review system
• Regularly conduct talent evaluation and succession workshops with Senior Managers and Leaders to identify and create development pathways to support career progression
• Active promotion of Women in Tech initiatives to demonstrate our commitment to driving change in the number of women working within the technology sector