Gender Pay Gap

In April 2017, the UK government implemented regulations mandating that organisations with 250 or more employees disclose their gender pay gap data annually. This legislation aimed to increase transparency surrounding pay disparities and stimulate action to address gender inequality in the workplace.

Introduction to the Gender Pay Gap

The rationale behind the introduction of gender pay gap reporting was to highlight any gender-based wage disparities, to create a culture of accountability and to prompt employers to take proactive measures to close the gap.

The gender pay gap is typically expressed as the difference between the average hourly earnings of male and female employees within an organisation. Companies in the UK are required to provide several key metrics, including the mean and median gender pay gaps in hourly pay, as well as the proportion of male and female employees across different pay quartiles. These figures are calculated based on gross hourly earnings, encompassing basic pay, bonuses, and other forms of compensation. This measure does not consider equal pay for equal work.

Cardiff Students' Union Background

Cardiff Students’ Union (CSU) is at the heart of Cardiff student life. That means that CSU is here to support students to thrive and to have their backs when things don’t go as planned, all within a safe, inclusive space where students can be who they want to be.

CSU was voted 2nd place in the UK in the WhatUni Student Choice Awards 2023 for best Students’ Union and is consistently graded in the top 5 for student satisfaction in the UK by students.

Spanning the Cathays and Heath Park campuses, CSU operates a purpose-built facility in the centre of Cardiff that houses cafes, shops, bars, a letting agency, a Post Office, and 24-hour flexible study spaces for students to meet, relax and make the most out of their time at university.

CSU is led by an elected full-time student officer team who provide dedicated representation and support for the needs of all students at Cardiff University. They shape all the activities and services we deliver for students.

In a recent staff satisfaction survey, 92% of employees would recommend Cardiff Students’ Union as a great place to work, ensuring high satisfaction and a thriving workforce for all is a key priority for the organisation. Reporting on the gender pay gap is an opportunity to reflect on current practices, taking the time to ensure that we are an equal and diverse workforce and reaffirming the commitment to building a workplace where every individual has the opportunity to thrive, irrespective of gender.

Recruitment Equal Opportunities Monitoring

Cardiff Students' Union is committed to ensuring that all job applicants and members of staff are treated equally, without discrimination. When recruiting for any position across the organisation, an Equality Monitoring form is required to be completed by all candidates. This is intended to help us record diversity of applications and to understand the successes of any initiatives in place that improve accessibility of recruitment practices. The form is purposely separate from the application form and does not play a part in the recruitment process. To see more about our recruitment process visit cardiffstudents.com/about/hwr/work-with-us

On the 5th April 2023 (the snapshot date) there were 830 employees recorded as being paid for work by Cardiff Students’ Union. This was based on a spilt of 536 females and 294 males, resulting in a split of 64.58% female and 35.42% male workforce. These employees consisted of both career staff and student staff. There were 727 student workers and 103 career staff employees.

Currently the Gender Pay Gap reporting mechanisms only allow or us to report on male and female genders. Where some of our members of staff identify as non-binary individuals, HR have had to use the gender from the individual’s passport in order to comply with the regulations.

Gender Pay Gap Reporting Figures

Below is a summary of our gender pay gap reported figures based on the 5th April 2023.

Detailed below are the results as they stand for our current staff, which will be published on the main pages of the government’s website. The data is based on the 5th April 2023.

Mean: The mean pay gap stands at 5.9%. Meaning, on average, women are paid 5.9% less than men. The mean figures are calculated based on both career and student staff.

Median: The median pay gap stands at 0.0%. Meaning that the middle pay rate for females is equal to males.

The below figures show the percentage of men and women who received bonus* pay:

Males: 16.0%

Females: 10.3%

*bonus pay was received in this year as a payment to all career staff.

Upper quartile: Male 41.5% | Female 58.5%

Upper middle quartile: Male 44.5% | Female 55.5%

Lower middle quartile: Male 17.9% | Female 82.1%

Lower quartile: Male 37.7% | Female 62.3%

The figures above show that there are more females in each quartile; however, this is in part linked to the overall greater number of females to males in the wider organisation; 536 females to 294 males.

The quartile figures are calculated based on the career and casual staff, therefore include all student staff. This shows that women are paid more than men in the upper and lower quartiles of jobs.

Supplementary Information

The organisation aspires to demonstrate diversity across all areas of the company and be representative, where possible, of society and of the students who use our services.

In terms of the organisation’s current figures, the organisation is confident that employees are being paid fairly for the roles that they undertake. This is achieved through a detailed job evaluation process which ensures all aspects of a post are reviewed and taken into account when salary grades are determined. Cardiff Students’ Union is committed to ensuring that all staff are treated equally and fairly under the terms of its policy and practices covering equality, diversity and inclusion. This embraces all terms and conditions of employment of which equal pay for work of equal value is a key principle. We recognise that to achieve equal pay for employees carrying out equal work, we must operate a pay system which is transparent, based on objective criteria and free from unfair bias on any grounds. CSU has a bespoke job evaluation process which enables the requirements considered necessary to undertake the role to be assessed against eight key factors each of which has a number of levels. This ensures consistency and fairness for evaluating the pay of different positions.

As a company, we provide many benefits and alternative ways which employees can utilise throughout their employment. This includes some of our other policies within the company certifying that flexibility exists in terms of working patterns and reduced/condensed hours, to support all staff that may have caring commitments. There are also the options of maternity, paternity, adoption leave, shared parental leave and special leave to ensure all employees of all genders have a fair choice in their home life decisions.

The organisation considers that the existing practices in place are sufficient and should lead to further improvements in gender balance. At present the upper quartile is 58% female; however, there is still some further balance to achieve when looking at the career staff element only. A continued focus will be made to use positive action where appropriate to attempt to increase diversity across our organisation. As part of this, the organisation would consider promoting or recruiting a candidate who is of equal merit to another, but who we reasonably believe has a protected characteristic (as defined by the Equality Act 2010) that is under-represented in the organisation.