Gender Pay Statement 2017

With effect from 4th April 2018, all organisations with 250 employees or more are required to publish an annual gender pay gap report which shows the pay gap as a percentage difference between average hourly earnings for men and women. As a qualifying organisation, Benenden Healthcare Society Ltd is required to publish a snapshot of their data as of 5 April 2017.

The data presented in this statement is calculated using the standard methodologies used in the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017.

Benenden Health is reporting the data for its Hospital in Kent separately from the Society Registered Office as whilst part of the same organisation they operate quite differently. This paper is in regard to the Society Registered Office.

Executive Summary

During 2017 Benenden engaged a number of interim managers and executives to support the Society until permanent roles were filled in the latter part of 2017. Whilst these individuals were only in post for a short duration, their employment has significantly skewed the Gender Pay required to be reported as at 5th April 2017. As a result the reported Gender Pay Gap figure is 31%, as shown in table 1.

However, a more representative position would be to take the permanent individuals who subsequently joined the Society. The more accurate Gender Pay Gap would therefore be 22%, see table 2

It is important to recognise that the figure required to be published is a snapshot on that particular date (5th April 2017) and is not representative of the whole of 2017 and also not representative of Benenden’s current or likely future position

Background for the Gender Pay Gap at Benenden Healthcare Society
Registered Office

There are a number of points that should be understood in relation to the Benenden Registered Office Gender Pay figure. These include :-

• The requirement to engage a number of interims for a brief time that overlapped the reporting date.
• Benenden operates a significant front end contact and administration function. These areas have a significantly higher proportion of roles that attract lower rates of pay.
• The lower paid roles are predominantly undertaken by women.
• Of 236 employees, 162 (69%) are female as opposed to 72 (31%) male.
• A culture of flexible and part-time working across all levels is valued by employees wanting a positive work/life balance and those with caring responsibilities. Of 236 employees based in York, 53 (22.5%) work part time hours.
• 99% of those who work part time are female with only 1 part time male employee in the Contact Centre. UK-wide the average split of men and women in part-time roles is 75/25.

Equal Pay and Opportunities

Benenden demonstrates the equality of opportunities for women at all levels within the organisation. Across the UK more men than women are likely to be in senior roles. However within Benenden Registered Office there is a split of 45% men and 55% female across our highest paid roles in GE and SLT. This is also reflected in the Upper Middle quartile where 70% of these roles are held by women.

Actions being taken

• Recruitment of new board members; Partnering with an executive search agency who commits to sourcing a target of 33% female candidates for all roles.
• On reviewing the board composition, Benenden has doubled the representation of women at this level of the business. The Board now has 14 members of which 4 are women which represents the commitment to equal opportunity.
• Implemented a new Risk Framework to identify and mitigate risks to the business in relation to Conduct and People. As part of this initiative, the Recruitment Policy and Procedures have been reviewed and updated to ensure that Benenden continues to be an equal opportunities employer. Benenden remains committed to promoting good recruitment and career development practices, ensuring that all candidates/employees are treated fairly based on their relevant merits and abilities.Evaluation of all roles and pay grades across the organisation as part of a review of Benefits offered to employees, ensures a fair and accessible pay structure
• All eligible employees have access to relevant bonus schemes and the robust calibration process of PDR (Personal Development Reviews) is undertaken so that bonus payments are based on objectives being achieved.
• Training and Development: Continues to ensure that opportunities to support employee development are delivered equally to both men and women. Programmes are arranged around working hours to maintain an engaged, skilled and knowledgeable workforce
• Benenden continues to support flexible working practices where possible across all levels of the organisation with 22.5% of employees working part time hours

Table 1 - Using the snapshot date of 5 April 2017, the Gender Pay Gap for Benenden Healthcare Society Ltd Registered Office was:

Table 2 – Using representative data for 2017 the Gender Pay Gap for Benenden Healthcare Society Ltd Registered Office would have been:

¹ ‘Mean’ is calculated by adding all the values and dividing by the number of values
² ‘Median’ is the number found at the exact middle of the set of values

This data shows that on average, male employees at Registered Office earn 22% more than female employees.  Additionally the bonus paid to male employees is on average 33% higher than that paid to female employees.  We have included a workforce profile below.

Workforce Profile 

I, Bob Andrews, CEO of Benenden Healthcare Society Ltd confirm that the information in this statement is accurate.