Sussex Police publish gender pay gap report

Sussex Police gender pay gap highlights a median difference of 12.4 per cent in a recent report published Wednesday 27th of March.

Organisations who have more 250 employees are required by law to publish an annual report which compares men and women’s average pay across their organisation. It is important to note that gender pay is different to that of equal pay.

The figures published by Sussex Police are based on a snapshot of data collected at 31st March 2018 and show that the current median difference is down from 14.99 per cent last year.

Director of People Services for Sussex Police, Adrian Rutherford, said: “It is really encouraging to see Sussex Police begin to reduce their gap in gender pay, but we remain committed to achieving parity overall.

“It is important to note that men and women in Sussex Police are being paid equally for the same work – but there are many factors that can affect the gender pay gap in an organisation.

“A gender pay gap can occur if one gender dominates in a certain area: for example in the higher paid roles, or roles that require individuals to work unsocial hours. Additional payments are made to those in these latter roles to compensate for the unsocial hours. If women do more of the less well paid jobs within an organisation than men, the gender pay gap is usually bigger.

“We are dedicated to improving the experience of our staff and officers by becoming thematic champions for the UN’s project ‘HeForShe’, a solidarity campaign for the advancement of gender equality. Our commitments to this project include achieving gender parity in senior roles, which will go a long way to closing the pay gap. Our reporting last year noted the need to improve our understanding of the real and perceived barriers for women progressing into senior roles, and we are working on recommendations as found in an internal survey.

“We are aware that one of the reasons behind the gender pay gap is due to family commitments, with women often taking a primary role in childcare. We are in the process of reviewing how to address some of these issues.

“It is essential for us to decipher why we continue to have a gender pay gap, and what we can do to close this. This is not an overnight fix, but a long term plan that requires an ongoing commitment for change.”

To view the report in full see here, and for last year’s report see here.