03 UK GENDER PAY GAP | BDO LLP
Trend 1: Gender Pay Gaps Hourly pay and bonus pay
Bonus Pay Gap It is harder to identify any major trends in relation to bonus pay gap movement due to the variable nature of bonus payments, which are often determined by individual and company performance. Mean bonus pay gap has varied over the period but has ultimately widened from 16.8% to 18.5%, while median bonus pay gap narrowed sharply between 2017/18 and 2018/19 before remaining relatively consistent from 2020/21 onwards, at c. 6%. Anecdotally, we have not observed any discernible contributing factors to this shift in median bonus pay gap, such as a previous trend of females receiving higher bonuses than males. However, the definition of bonuses for GPG reporting is broad and nuanced. For example, long-term incentive awards delivered via securities are only included in the bonus calculation at the point in which the recipient incurs an income tax charge. This can contribute to bonus pay gaps fluctuating, leading to a notable impact on mean calculations. This bonus pay gap shift could also be attributed to companies becoming more accustomed to the Regulations or entities adopting a more advanced approach to data collection/GPG calculation, which in turn enables more accurate reporting.
Hourly Pay Gap We see a slight year-on-year reduction in both mean and median hourly GPGs, as shown in Fig. 1 below. This corresponds to a 14% and 9% decrease for the mean and median, respectively. Considering this rate of change, it is projected that it will take c. 37 years for the mean hourly pay gap to reach 0%, and about 63 years for the median hourly pay gap to be closed. It’s important to note that the limited extent of this change could be attributed to two main factors: X The statistical nature of the assessment i.e., with such a large dataset, and each participating entity taking an average hourly pay to calculate the gaps, substantial overall annual changes are unlikely X Many measures taken by companies to address GPG are long-term in nature and would require actions over many years to show a positive change.
Fig. 1: Gender pay gap Hourly pay gaps
Fig. 2: Bonus pay gap Bonus Pay Gaps
Median Hourly
Mean Hourly
Mean Bonus
Median Bonus
10% 12% 14% 16%
10% 15% 20% 25%
0% 5%
0% 2% 4% 6% 8%
2017/18
2018/19
2019/20
2020/21
2021/22
2022/23
-25% -20% -15% -10% -5%
17/18 18/19 19/20 20/21 21/22 22/23
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