5. Pay equity

Living Wage Foundation

We were the first organisation in Greater Manchester accredited as a Living Wage Employer in 2012. We believe in a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work and continue to maintain our commitment to the real living wage.

Gender Pay Gap

Equal pay is about the difference between men and women who carry out the same jobs, similar jobs or work of equal value. It is unlawful to pay people unequally because they are a man or a woman. At Salix Homes we have job evaluation and assessment practices in place which support us to comply with legislation. The gender pay gap relates to the differences in the average pay between men and women and is therefore different to equal pay.

Unlike the national picture where men are traditionally paid more, women at Salix Homes are more likely to be paid more than men.

Our median average hourly rate for women at Salix Homes for 22/23 was £16.55, for men it was £14.20, giving a median gender pay gap of £2.35, representative of 14.20%. This is the lowest % difference since reporting commenced in 2017/18 for Salix Homes and shows a narrowing of the gender pay gap, in part due to a new Trade Pay Policy which saw salaries increase for trade operatives who are predominantly male.

Disability Pay Gap

Disability Pay Gap Reporting is not a legal requirement, but as an inclusive employer we have committed to undertaking this reporting to develop new insights.

Using the known data, those who have declared yes and no to regarding themselves as having a disability, the median hourly rate of those who declare as disabled is £16.55, and those who have declared they are not disabled is £15.79. This makes the gap only £0.28, representative of 1.64%, in favour of those with a disability. This means that you are likely to be paid slightly more at Salix Homes if you are disabled than if you are not.

A review of the data shows that colleagues with disabilities are employed in a wide range of roles with a good distribution of salary levels. This should provide some confidence that Salix Homes is supportive of colleagues with disabilities.

Ethnicity Pay Gap

Like disability pay gap reporting, ethnicity pay gap reporting is not a legal requirement, however we recognise the moral case of pay fairness across all ethnic groups. For consistency with disability pay gap reporting we will focus on the median hourly rate.

Using the known data, those who have declared within our minoritised ethnic grouping have a median hourly rate of £12.19, those we have grouped as white have a median hourly rate of £16.55. This results in an ethnicity gap of £4.36, representative of 26.34% in favour of those grouped as white.

The gaps in the data and the lower number of declarations mean that there is limited reliability of this data as an accurate representation. However, we know that, unfortunately, within the social housing sector there is a lack of ethnically diverse representation in senior roles, and we are working with partners to better understand this challenge and share best practice on how this can be addressed.

Differences

The pay gaps are not because of different rates of pay assigned to different diversity groups, as outlined above we have clear, fair, and objective and transparent pay arrangements in place. It is related to the positions we have and where our colleagues sit within our organisation.

Next steps

We will continue to focus on:

• Listening to our colleagues to improve experience and provide opportunities for growth and progression, working in partnership with our Inclusion Group.
• Continuing to target representation in our upper quartile roles and removing any barriers to progression.
• Promotion of flexible working practices, development opportunities and vacancies for all.

6. Looking forward >