Introduction

In the UK, public, private and voluntary sector organisations with 250 or more employees have to report on their gender pay gaps annually. The reports show the difference between the average earnings of men and women, expressed relative to men’s earnings. If an organisation reports a gender pay gap, it does not mean women are paid less than men for doing the same job, but it does show that, on average, men occupy higher-paying roles than women. Humberside Fire and Rescue Service (HFRS) has voluntarily produced and published ethnicity and disability pay gap data as part of this report, and it has been produced earlier than the March 2024 deadline. Employers must report six different measures, based on a snapshot of pay data on a set date identified within Schedule 1 of The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017. The six measures are as follows:

1. Median Gender Pay Gap
2. Mean Gender Pay Gap
3. Median Bonus Gap*
4. Mean Bonus Gap*
5. Bonus Proportions*
6. Quartile Pay Bands

*Humberside Fire and Rescue Service do not make bonus payments and therefore have no relevant data for measures 3, 4 & 5.

Gender Profile

HFRS employed 1087 staff at 31 March 2023. The table below details the gender profile of HFRS.

From the 2021/2022 report and onwards we will not be splitting the gender profile into staff groups (Control, Support and Operational Staff) as we are unable to replicate this data for ethnicity and disability, further in the report, due to the small data set.

The gender profile demonstrates that there is a significantly higher proportion of men overall employed in the Service. We have a far larger volume of Operational roles within the Service and currently those roles are more commonly occupied by men. Women make up the larger proportion of staff in Support and Control roles.

Gender Pay Gap and Equal Pay

The Gender Pay Gap is a measure of the difference between the average earnings of men and women (irrespective of seniority). Equal pay is our legal obligation as an employer to give men and women equal pay for equal work. An organisation can have a gender pay gap without breaching equal pay provisions.

Our gender pay gap is not as a result of equal pay issues. We have a gender-neutral approach to pay across all levels of the organisation. For firefighter and Control roles, terms and conditions are nationally negotiated, using role maps resulting in nationally agreed pay scales. Support roles are determined locally for pay and terms and conditions using an accredited job evaluation scheme, based on the Local Government Scheme.

Gender Pay Gap Mean hourly rate

The mean hourly rate is the average hourly wage across the entire organisation, so the mean gender pay gap is a measure of the difference between women’s mean hourly wage and men’s mean hourly wage.

The mean hourly rate:

Male = £17.08

Female = £15.64

Gender Pay Gap = 8.4%

When considering the mean hourly rate for the last seven years, a reduction of over 12% is seen over the period. The significant reduction is due to more women successfully appointed at senior levels within the organisation during this reporting period, and the increase in women joining the Service overall. This is a significant and sustained improvement and brings the Service under the UK all employees mean Gender Pay Gap of 14.3%* (*www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/
peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/annualsurveyofhoursandearningsashegenderpaygaptables)

Gender Pay Gap Median hourly rate

The median hourly rate is calculated by ranking all employees from the highest paid to the lowest paid, and taking the hourly wage of the person in the middle; so the median gender pay gap is the difference between women’s median hourly wage (the middle paid woman) and men’s median hourly wage (the middle paid man).

The median hourly rate:

Male = £16.12

Female = £15.63

Gender Pay Gap = 3.1%

The difference between women’s median hourly wage (the middle paid woman) and men’s median hourly wage (the middle paid man), which is £0.49, which is slightly higher than the £0.43 median pay difference reported last year.

Quartiles

Pay quartiles are calculated by splitting all employees in an organisation into four even groups according to their level of pay. Looking at the proportion of women in each quarter gives an indication of women’s representation at different levels of the organisation. The data identifies that women within HFRS occupy 15% of the highest paid jobs, a reduction of 2% from last year and there is an increase in the upper middle quartile of 1%, and a reduction of 1% of the lowest paid jobs.

The reduction in women in upper middle and upper quartiles is a result of a decrease in recruitment activity compared to the previous reporting year. Our consistent positive attraction and action activities have contributed to the overall increase in women joining the Service.

Ethnicity Pay Gap

The information provided in this report accounts for any employee in paid full remuneration as at 31 March 2023. White (Other) includes British, English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish, Irish, Gypsy or Irish Traveller, Irish and Other. Ethnic Minorities include Black or Black British, Mixed and Other. (In the table below staff members who have not stated their ethnicity have not been included in the calculations for the mean and median pay gaps, they have however been included in the pay quartile calculations.

The ethnicity profile demonstrates that there is a significantly higher proportion of white and white other employees in the Service.

Ethnicity Pay Gap Mean hourly rate

The mean hourly rate is the average hourly wage across the entire organisation, so the mean ethnicity pay gap is a measure of the difference between white/white others mean hourly wage and ethnic minorities mean hourly wage. The data demonstrates that there is a difference of £1.16 which is a slight increase from the previous year when it was £0.82.

Compared to last year the Ethnicity Pay Gap within the Service remains broadly the same at just over 5%. Whilst we will always strive to have no pay gap at all, we continue our efforts with more positive attraction within the communities we serve in order to add to the diversity of our workforce.

The mean hourly rate:

White/White Other = £16.80

Ethnic Minorities = £15.64

Not Stated = £15.90

Ethnicity Pay Gap = 6.89%

Ethnicity Pay Gap Median hourly rate

The median hourly rate is calculated by ranking all employees from the highest paid to the lowest paid, and taking the hourly wage of the person in the middle; so the median gender pay gap is the difference between ethnic minority staff groups median hourly wage (the middle paid ethnic minority staff member) and the white/white other staff groups median hourly wage (the middle paid white/white other staff member). The data shows there is a difference of £0.1 which is an improvement on last year’s figure of £0.34.

The latest data set estimates from the Office for National Statistics* identifies a median ethnicity pay gap (for 2019) of 2.3% for England and Wales and 12.7% specifically for Yorkshire and the Humber. Staff within HFRS data sets compare favourably with these figures. (*www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/ethnicitypaygapreferencetables (Tables 5 and 8 respectively).

The median hourly rate:

White/White Other = £15.85

Ethnic Minorities = £15.75

Not Stated = £15.75

Ethnicity Pay Gap = 0.63%

Quartiles

Pay quartiles are calculated by splitting all employees in an organisation into four even groups according to their level of pay. Looking at the proportion of ethnic minority staff in each quarter gives an indication of ethnic minority staff representation at different levels of the organisation. The data identifies that ethnic minority staff within HFRS occupy 1% of the highest paid jobs and 2.5% of the lowest paid jobs. This is lower in both quartiles than last year, and the year before. We recognise that becoming a more ethic diverse workforce is a significant challenge for the Service.

Disability Pay Gap

The information provided in this report accounts for any employee in paid full remuneration as at 31 March 2023. Definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010 is if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities.* The disability profile demonstrates that there is a significantly higher proportion of staff who have not declared a disability than those that have.

(*Staff members who have not stated their disability status have not been included in the calculations for the mean and median pay gaps, they are however included in
the pay quartile calculations.)

Disability Pay Gap Mean hourly rate

The mean hourly rate is the average hourly wage across the entire organisation, so the mean disability pay gap is a measure of the difference in mean pay between staff that have declared a disability and those that have not. The number of staff with a declared disability has remained the same at 5%, and the number of not stated has increased from 6% to 9%. The inception of a Voices for Disability staff forum and the adoption by HFRS of the social model of disability along with new policy initiatives around reasonable adjustments may help increase disability disclosure in the longer term.

The data demonstrates that when comparing mean hourly wages there are more staff who have declared a disability in higher pay quartiles than those who have not.

The mean hourly rate:

No Disability declared = £16.79

Disability declared = £17.72

Ethnicity Pay Gap = -5.54%

Disability Pay Gap Median hourly rate

The median hourly rate is calculated by ranking all employees from the highest paid to the lowest paid, and taking the hourly wage of the person in the middle; so the median disability pay gap is the difference between the median hourly wage of staff who have declared a disability (the middle paid staff member who has declared a disability) and the median hourly wage of staff who have not declared a disability (the middle paid staff member who has not declared a disability). Their median hourly wage is -10.67%, the data shows us that a higher proportion of staff declaring they have a disability are those from higher pay quartiles.

The comparative data for the UK and region have not yet been published for 2023.

The median hourly rate:

No Disability declared = £15.84

Disability declared = £17.53

Ethnicity Pay Gap = -10.67%

Quartiles

Pay quartiles are calculated by splitting all employees in an organisation into four even groups according to their level of pay. Looking at the proportion of ethnic minority staff in each quarter gives an indication of ethnic minority staff representation at different levels of the organisation. The data identifies that staff declaring a disability within HFRS occupy 9% of the highest paid jobs and 5% of the lowest paid jobs.

Closing the Pay Gap

Our gender pay gap data over the last seven years highlights there are continuing challenges to close the gender pay gap, however our Service data trend is positive over the last seven years and shows us we are closing that gap, which is encouraging. Over the seven years we have been reporting our mean gender pay gap has reduced from 20.89% down to 8.4% and median gender pay gap has reduced from 23.44% down to 3.1%. The Service continues to work hard to address factors of attraction, recruitment and progression for women, through consistent positive attraction, continuing support and development opportunities, such as Women in the Fire Service weekend and through the established Voices for Women staff forum.

Our ethnicity pay gap is slightly smaller than our gender pay gap, and while our mean ethnicity pay gap has increased slightly, our median ethnicity pay gap has reduced this year. However, the Service has had a slight reduction in our ethnic minority staff. This shows our need to continue to find effective ways of recruiting, retaining and promoting ethnic minority staff.

However, it has shown a slight increase in both last 2 years along with a slight reduction in our ethnic minority staff. This shows our need to continue to find effective ways of recruiting, retaining and promoting ethnic minority staff.

While our disability pay gap continues to be negative which means we pay our disabled staff on average more than our non-disabled staff, which is promising, there is a continuing need to build trust to ensure disabled staff feel comfortable to disclose disabilities.

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