Gender, ethnicity and disability pay gap information
All organisations with more than 250 employees must publish data on their gender pay gap. This includes the mean gap, the median gap and the proportion of men and women in each quartile band. Organisations must also publish data on bonuses, however Victim Support does not pay any employee a bonus, so this is not relevant.
Ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting is not currently a legal requirement but as part of Victim Support’s commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) we decided to publish our ethnicity and disability pay gap data for 2020/21 and have continued to do so each year to monitor our progress.
What is a gender pay gap?
The term gender pay gap refers to the difference between what is paid to men and women when analysed collectively.
Gender pay gap data collection
Gender pay gap reporting guidelines require us to report on the pay gap between men and women, meaning that reporting is unable to include data on other gender identities. The data used for the calculation comes from His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) records, which we acknowledge won’t have an accurate record of gender for many trans and non-binary people.
We are committed to continuing to take steps to create inclusive working environments for our trans and non-binary colleagues. For example, staff are able to record their gender identity (including non-binary identities) through our staff equality monitoring data portal and we have introduced a pronouns section in our email signatures, enabling colleagues to share how they would like to be referred to. We also continue to provide trans and non-binary inclusion webinars and remind colleagues of our trans and non-binary inclusion guidance.
Disability and ethnicity pay gap data collection
Victim Support collects anonymous EDI monitoring data for all staff and volunteers so that we can monitor how representative we are of the communities we serve. Completing this data is not mandatory, however completion rates continue to increase and as of April 2024 89% of staff had submitted their ethnicity and disability data. Therefore, the below figures are not completely representative of all staff within VS but give an indication of where pay gaps exist.
We continue to encourage all staff to complete their EDI data to ensure that our future pay gap analysis is even more reflective of our staff population.
Mean, median and quartile bands
The mean is the average of a set of figures. The median is the middle number of a set of figures when they have been ranked by size. Quartile bands divide data organised by size into four equal parts, with the first quartile showing 0-25% of the data — the lowest numbers — and so on.
Gender pay gap analysis 2023/24
Victim Support does have a gender pay gap. For the financial year 2023/24, women’s mean pay is 15.1% lower than men’s, while women’s median pay is 6.3% lower than men’s. As mentioned above, no employee receives a bonus at Victim Support.
The distribution of employees across quartile bands is:
| Female | Male | |
|---|---|---|
| Quartile 1 (lowest 25%) | 90% | 10% |
| Quartile 2 (lower middle) | 90% | 10% |
| Quartile 3 (upper middle) | 90% | 10% |
| Quartile 4 (highest 25%) | 75% | 25% |
The Victim Support workforce remains predominantly female, with women making up 86% of the workforce and men the remaining 14%. Women are in roles which span from the lowest to the highest paid positions.
Victim Support’s gender pay gap is not caused by differences in pay for men and women working in the same role or position. The gap arises because – despite women still comprising the majority of senior employees – the ratio of women to men at Victim Support decreases in the upper quartile. In other words, there is a higher percentage of men in managerial positions compared to the percentage of men in less senior roles. This influences both the mean and median gaps.
Disability pay gap analysis 2023/24
For the financial year 2023/24, disabled staff’s mean pay is 3.6% lower than non-disabled staff’s pay, while disabled staff’s median pay is 0.6% lower than non-disabled staff’s pay.
The distribution of disabled and non-disabled employees across quartile bands is:
| Disabled | Non-disabled | |
|---|---|---|
| Quartile 1 (lowest 25%) | 22% | 78% |
| Quartile 2 (lower middle) | 26% | 74% |
| Quartile 3 (upper middle) | 19% | 81% |
| Quartile 4 (highest 25%) | 18% | 82% |
Victim Support’s disability pay gap is not caused by differences in pay for disabled and non-disabled staff working in the same role or position. The pay gap arises because the ratio of disabled staff to non-disabled staff at Victim Support decreases at higher levels of the organisation — meaning there is a higher percentage of non-disabled staff in managerial positions when we compare this to the percentage of non-disabled and disabled staff in more junior roles. This influences both the mean and median gaps.
Ethnicity pay gap analysis 2023/24
In our ethnicity pay gap analysis Victim Support uses the term ‘minority ethnic’ to describe all ethnic groups other than white ethnic groups. We accept that this grouped analysis is not ideal as we know the experiences of those from racialised communities are not the same. As such we have carried out this analysis on a more nuanced basis where data allows, e.g. separate analysis for Black, Asian and mixed ethnicity staff compared with white staff, and separate analysis for white British and white other staff. This data is not published due to the smaller numbers involved as groups are broken down, however it is used internally to identify gaps and ways to address underrepresentation.
For the financial year 2023/24 Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff’s mean pay is 0.3% higher than white staff’s and Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff’s median pay is 2.9% higher than white staff’s pay.
The distribution of Black, Asian and minority ethnic and white employees across quartile bands is:
| Ethnic minority | White | |
|---|---|---|
| Quartile 1 (lowest 25%) | 12% | 88% |
| Quartile 2 (lower middle) | 12% | 88% |
| Quartile 3 (upper middle) | 26% | 74% |
| Quartile 4 (highest 25%) | 19% | 81% |
Victim Support’s ethnicity pay gap is not caused by differences in pay for Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff and white staff working in the same role or position. The mean and median pay for Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff is higher than for white staff, resulting in a positive ethnicity pay gap.
We calculate our disability and ethnicity pay gaps using the same principles as the statutory gender pay gap. This means that all additional payments such as London weighting and travel allowances are included when calculating pay. Analysis indicates that London weighting (an addition to salary for London-based staff because of significantly higher living costs) has a significant effect on these figures, as our London teams have a greater degree of ethnic diversity. 58% of our Black, Asian and minority ethnic employees receive London weighting payments, compared to just 11% of our white employees. More in-depth analysis suggests that when adjusting for London weighting the pay gap is in favour of white staff both inside and outside London. The pay gap within London has narrowed in 2023/24, but the pay gap outside of London has increased.
What action is Victim Support taking?
Victim Support is committed to taking action in relation to the gender pay gap. We have implemented a number of measures to help recruit and develop staff from diverse backgrounds, including:
- Held a six month mentoring programme for minority ethnic, disabled, and LGBTQ+ employees to help them identify and work on the skills they need to move into leadership positions.
- Strengthened staff networks via protected time for network leads and Senior Leadership Team Champion, to give groups including women, minority ethnic staff and disabled staff greater influence in VS policy and direction, as well as to provide a forum for tailored development opportunities.
- Implemented a new Equality Impact Assessment process to ensure our policies and procedures are designed with inclusion in mind.
- Conducted a number of focus groups, surveys and interviews as part of our neurodiversity review, set to be published before the end of the 2024/25 financial year.
- Provided a range of blogs and webinars relating to women’s health and inclusion relating to gender, ethnicity and disability.
- Advertised roles on Evenbreak (a recruitment portal for disabled job seekers)
We plan to expand on this progress by:
- Further developing the mentoring programme as a key development opportunity for employees from underrepresented backgrounds.
- Updating our Inclusive Recruitment Toolkit in line with the findings of the neurodiversity review and best practice.
- Reviewing our approach to recording protected characteristic data to ensure employees are comfortable sharing this information and that the options reflect changing identities.