Gender pay gap

We are required under the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017 to report on our gender pay gap.

This involves carrying out 6 calculations that show the difference between the average earnings of men and women in our organisation. It does not involve publishing individual employees' data.

We are required to publish the results on our own website and a government website, within 1 calendar year of 30 March.

We can use these results to assess:

• the levels of gender equality in our workplace
• the balance of male and female employees at different levels
• how effectively talent is being maximised and rewarded

The challenge in our organisation and across Great Britain is to eliminate any gender pay gap.

The Buckinghamshire Council 2024 Gender Pay Gap report is based on regulations that are very specific about how we make the calculation and what has to be treated as pay and bonus:

• regular pay including salaries and regular allowances
• bonus payments recognising performance
• other lump sum payments including retention payments, long service awards and non-consolidated payments

The non-consolidated payments that were made as a one-off lump sum payment in the annual pay review must be treated as a bonus for the purposes of the calculation and has contributed to the increase in the percentage of males and females receiving bonuses.

There are more part-time females than males receiving the non-consolidated payment which is a reflection of the workforce which has a higher number of part time females than males.