Transparency data

HM Revenue and Customs gender pay gap report 2018

Published 19 December 2018

Introduction

As HMRC’s Gender Champion and Chief People Officer I am pleased to publish our gender pay gap figures for the second time since the statutory reporting requirements were introduced in 2017.

Transparency, reporting and monitoring are critical to tackling any inequality revealed through examining pay gaps. That is why we are publishing our data with a greater examination of our gender pay gaps, by including data for contractors.

We are looking at what is driving pay gaps, considering opportunities to change them and using this as a benchmark to improve. We are also taking time to recognise some of the great work we already do to develop our people. We continue to offer excellent flexible working arrangements, with even senior colleagues having the option to work part-time and were delighted to win this year’s Business in the Community Gender Award in recognition of our work.

We are doing this in the context of our People Strategy, placing employee experience at the heart of our work to create and support an engaged, inclusive and empowered workforce. This will ensure we can navigate the changes and challenges we face to emerge as a strong organisation, supporting the Civil Service ambition to become the UK’s most diverse employer.

We offer mentoring and coaching, as well as leadership skills training, to all our people, to help everyone develop the skills they need to succeed. Our talent and development programmes include opportunities for colleagues in junior and first line management roles. Introducing sustainable, continuous career conversations, we want to ensure there are inclusive opportunities for all those with flexible working patterns or caring responsibilities and offer learning around life events, supporting everyone to continue developing their skills and knowledge.

We are raising awareness of the benefits to individuals and the business from job-sharing and part-time working, and will continue to educate our managers in understanding individual needs, considering work-life balance and caring responsibilities, regardless of gender identity. Supporting smarter ways of working, we are supporting women, and all colleagues, to progress their careers within HMRC.

Increasing the number of Senior Civil Service (SCS) roles outside of London and developing regional career opportunities, alongside improved technology, means people can see opportunities to progress without having to consider extensive travel and impacts on caring responsibilities.

I also want us to foster an environment where we can talk openly about topics such as the menopause and support our colleagues, including implementing workplace adjustments to enable everyone to fully participate in work. Whilst I am pleased that we are promoting good mental health and supporting those with mental health problems, we are also focused on increasing understanding around stress prevention and the need for early intervention.

This year our pay gaps have decreased slightly, and continue to be lower than the national median gender pay gap of 17.9%. These headline figures tell only a small part of the story, and we must consider the full demographics of our combined departments as we continually reform. This is important to ensure that we are tackling the real issues and not any preconceived ideas.

In publishing our pay gap data we should also look at ways to improve opportunities and pay to ensure equity amongst all our people. Pay is an important issue for many, not exclusive to gender and we have shared our plans on future work on pay linked to a review of working practices.

Esther Wallington, Chief People Officer, HM Revenue and Customs

Overview

In 2017, the government introduced world-leading legislation that made it a statutory requirement for organisations with 250 or more employees to report annually on their gender pay gap. Government departments are covered by the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017 which came into force on 31 March 2017.

These regulations underpin the Public Sector Equality Duty and require relevant organisations to publish their gender pay gap by 30 March annually. This includes:

  • the mean and median gender pay gaps
  • the mean and median gender bonus pay gaps
  • the proportion of men and women who received bonuses
  • the proportions of male and female employees in each pay quartile

An equal pay gap will show any pay difference between men and women who carry out the same work, or equivalent work, or work of equal value.

The gender pay gap shows the difference in the average pay between all men and women in a workforce. If a workforce has a particularly high gender pay gap, this can indicate there may be a number of issues to deal with, and the individual calculations may help to identify what those issues are.

The gender pay gap is different to equal pay. Equal pay deals with the pay differences 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.

HMRC supports the fair treatment and reward of all staff irrespective of gender through our values of:

  • being professional
  • acting with integrity
  • showing respect
  • being innovative

HMRC gender pay gap report 2018

This report gives the gender pay gap data in HMRC at 31 March 2018.

For ordinary pay we used a snapshot date of 31 March 2018. The relevant pay period was March 2018.

For bonus pay we captured data for the 12 month period between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2018.

This year we have included data for 207 contractors in our headline and grade breakdown figures. However, they have been excluded from the locations report in Annex C, as contractors are not location specific, and neither are they aligned with general Civil Service grades.

The gender pay gap data supplied is correct for people in post in HMRC on 31 March 2018. The results are below at Annex B.

Since 2017, HMRC has decreased its workforce by more than 3,700 to 65,927, with the largest decreases in our junior Assistant Officer (AO) and Officer (O) grades.

Our gender balance, including contractors, for this date was:

Female Male
Percent of workforce (2018) 55% 45%
Percent of workforce (2017) 56% 44%
Female Male
Number of staff in post (2018) 36,577 29,350
Number of staff in post (2017) 39,011 30,679

Image showing the gender balance within HMRC.

Out of the 65,927 people in post as at 31 March 2018, some have reserved rights to alternative pay arrangements:

  • 8 people protected by TUPE regulations
  • 37 on legacy Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise terms and conditions

Basic pay

HMRC follows the standard public sector approach to pay and grading.

For pay purposes we are governed by public sector pay policy, for which HM Treasury has overall responsibility. This defines the overall parameters for Civil Service pay awards each year in the pay guidance, to ensure that Civil Service pay awards are consistent with the government’s overall objectives.

All posts sit within one of 9 levels (grades). The Administrative Assistant (AA) grade consists of a single spot pay rate and grades AO to SCS have a pay range consisting of a minimum and maximum annual rate of pay. This is known as basic pay and forms the basis for the annual pay award, which is irrespective of gender.

All grades with the exception of Director (SCS2) and Directors General (SCS3) within the SCS have both a London and national pay range.

Dependant on the nature of the work undertaken in certain roles, additional allowances or supplements may also be paid, which together with basic pay forms the annual salary.

Our annual pay award currently comprises 2 elements:

  • consolidated award paid to all our people (subject to performance)
  • non-consolidated, non-pensionable award linked to exceptional performance against objectives

In addition, in-year bonus payments are made to people in HMRC in a variety of ways.

The value of the pay awards are negotiated with our recognised trade unions, and are subject to HM Treasury and ministerial agreement.

Gender pay gap data

There are 854 entries which were excluded from hourly rate calculations as they were not a ‘full pay relevant employee’ for the entire month of March 2018. This is because they were either not being paid or were on reduced, statutory or nil pay at any point during March.

Hourly rate of pay 2018

Image showing mean hourly rates and pay gap percentage within HMRC.

The mean hourly rate for women is £13.01

The mean hourly rate for men is £14.14

Mean gender pay gap is 8%

Image showing median hourly rates and pay gap percentage within HMRC.

The median hourly rate for women is £10.97

The median hourly rate for men is £12.57

Median gender pay gap is 12.8%

Hourly rate of pay 2017

The mean hourly rate for women is £12.76

The mean hourly rate for men is £13.94

Mean gender pay gap is 8.4%

The median hourly rate for women is £10.87

The median hourly rate for men is £12.37

Median gender pay gap is 12.2%

The distribution of our workforce drives our mean and median figures, and whilst we have a very diverse workforce we do still have a large number of our female workforce in the lower pay grades.

Bonus pay

The structure of our workforce also influences our mean bonus pay gap, which is 5.4% (10.4% in 2017).

Image showing mean bonus pay gap within HMRC.

HMRC follows the standard public sector approach to pay and reward, and an agreed fund is reserved for payment of non-consolidated, non-pensionable awards linked to performance. There are 3 reward schemes:

  1. Simply Thanks vouchers of £20 – appreciation of good work and positive behaviours
  2. Recognition/Contribution Bonus Scheme – exceptional short-term performance
  3. Exceeded/Top Award – exceptional sustained performance during the entire performance year

We know our bonus systems are all gender neutral by design. However a large female workforce in the lower pay grades drives our mean gender bonus pay gap, in the same way as our mean gender hourly pay gap.

The mean bonus pay gap is affected by 2 main factors:

  • all end of year performance payments are paid according to grade with higher values paid to people in higher pay grades to reflect the work they carry out
  • the legislation requires the inclusion of year-end performance bonuses which have been pro-rated for people who work reduced hours, of which 80.3% are women

At HMRC we are proud to enable our people to work alternative working patterns including reduced hours if it suits their lifestyle. However, this does impact on our mean bonus pay gap.

The median gender bonus pay gap is -20%, (0% in 2017), which is due to the large number of Simply Thanks vouchers that we issued during the year (Simply Thanks made up 97% of all bonuses). The spread of bonus figures is affected by the large number of low value awards ranging from £10 to £30.

While our bonus pay gap figures are affected by small value Simply Thanks bonuses, the comparison above with last year’s figures shows that the changes aren’t directly caused by the inclusion of contractors this year, as they are excluded from receiving a Simply Thanks bonus.

We are committed to the principle of equal pay for all employees. We have pay and conditions of employment that do not discriminate unlawfully and are free from bias by ensuring that equal pay is in place for like work, work rated as equivalent and work of equal value. We use a job evaluation system to assess the relative value of jobs across the organisation, and this provides evidence in support of the allocation of each job within our grading structure.

Actions

We have pay and conditions of employment which are gender neutral by design with a view to ensuring that men and women are paid the same for doing like work, work rated as equivalent or work of equal value. Our recruitment and promotion policies are based on the Civil Service principle of fair and open competition.

Talent and development programmes

We recognise that our staff don’t all want the same things from their careers, however, we aim to provide everyone with opportunities to be the best they can be and to progress, whether to more senior roles, or other roles in HMRC or the Civil Service.

To support this, accessibility of our offer is at the heart of our thinking around our talent and development programmes.

Internally, we are reviewing our Spring, Leap and Ascend programmes to develop a more regionally based offer rather than single location residential event. Across government we are working with CS Talent to increase the regional offer for the centrally run Future Leaders Scheme and Senior Leaders Scheme programmes and we are also joining up with Other Government Departments to explore additional opportunities to create cross departmental networks outside London.

Through this work our aim is to provide an offer that is accessible to all our people and that recognises the challenge for colleagues with caring responsibilities to otherwise participate.

Flexible working

As part of our Transformation programme, and moving to regional offices, we will continue to support staff who wish to work more flexibly, across all grades. Most roles are available as job share, reduced hours, or flexible working patterns.

Equal pay audit

Continuing work on the regular equal pay audit to assess all areas of possible improvement.

Wellbeing

Raising awareness of work-life balance and caring responsibilities, regardless of gender identity. We want to foster an environment where we can talk openly about health concerns, providing support to our colleagues and managers.

Performance management

Following the review of the performance management system we introduced the new approach to performance and development conversations within HMRC in July 2018. This will improve areas of development, engagement, and productivity. We also trialled the provision of in-year bonuses and rewards with some business areas and we now need to gather and compare the results.

SCS locations

We are actively increasing the number of SCS roles outside London and are, therefore, developing career opportunities across the regions. We currently have 3 SCS roles filled by job share and this is always considered as part of our vacancy planning process at SCS.

Calculations

Our calculations followed the legislative requirements and we confirm the data reported is accurate. All people who were deemed to be full pay relevant employees were included in the gender hourly pay gap calculations. In this year’s report we are including 207 contractors, as defined by the regulations, for the first time, but we have been unable to provide location data for contractors in Annex C below, because there is insufficient data to identify their main location.

Annex A: workforce demographics

Women are over-represented in more junior grades, where pay is lower, and under-represented in more senior grades.

2018 HMRC data

Grade (increasing seniority) Number of men (% of men who work in this grade) Number of women (% of women who work in this grade) % Female
AA/AO 9,731 (33.2%) 16,344 (44.7%) 62.7%
EO 6,670 (22.7%) 8,764 (24.0%) 56.8%
HEO/SEO 8,859 (30.2%) 8,462 (23.1%) 48.9%
Band T 652 (2.2%) 326 (0.9%) 33.3%
Grade 6/7 3,080 (10.5%) 2,441 (6.7%) 44.2%
SCS 212 (0.7%) 165 (0.5%) 43.8%
Contractor (non-grade equivalent) 140 (0.5%) 67 (0.2%) 32.4%
Total 29,344 36,569 55.5%

Note: 14 people who were not assigned a grade have been excluded from this table.

When the grade make up is compared to the Civil Service overall it can be seen that HMRC has a comparable workforce.

2018 Civil Service data

Grade (increasing seniority) Number of men (% of men who work in this grade) Number of women (% of women who work in this grade) % Female
AA/AO 63,465 (32%) 84,814 (37%) 57%
EO 47,806 (24%) 62,295 (27%) 57%
HEO/SEO 53,705 (27%) 52,442 (23%) 49%
Grade 6/7 24,500 (12%) 21,110 (9%) 46%
SCS 2,598 (2%) 1,973 (1%) 43%
Total (including those with unknown grade) 198,420 231,655 54%

2017 HMRC data

Grade (increasing seniority) Number of men (% of men who work in this grade) Number of women (% of women who work in this grade) % Female
AA/AO 10,520 (34.3%) 18,054 (46.3%) 63.2%
EO 6,916 (22.5%) 9,265 (23.7%) 57.3%
HEO/SEO 8,878 (28.9%) 8,349 (21.4%) 48.5%
Band T 1,263 (4.1%) 874 (2.2%) 40.9%
Grade 6/7 2,899 (9.4%) 2,317 (5.9%) 44.4%
SCS 203 (0.7%) 152 (0.4%) 42.8%
Total 30,679 39,011 56.0%

When the grade make up is compared to the Civil Service overall it can be seen that HMRC has a comparable workforce.

2017 Civil Service data

Grade (increasing seniority) Number of men (% of men who work in this grade) Number of women (% of women who work in this grade) % Female
AA/AO 62,688 (34%) 86,861 (40%) 58%
EO 48,308 (26%) 62,463 (29%) 56%
HEO/SEO 51,003 (27%) 47,846 (22%) 48%
Grade 6/7 22,566 (12%) 18,801 (9%) 45%
SCS 2,466 (1%) 1,771 (1%) 42%
Total (including those with unknown grade) 193,100 226,380 54%

Annex B

2018 HMRC overall gender pay gap results

%
Mean gender pay gap – hourly pay 8.0%
Median gender pay gap – hourly pay 12.8%
Mean gender pay gap – bonus pay in the 12 months ending 31 March 5.4%
Median gender pay gap – bonus pay in the 12 months ending 31 March -20.0%
The proportion of male employees paid a bonus in the 12 months ending 31 March 57.4%
The proportion of female employees paid a bonus in the 12 months ending 31 March 57.7%

Proportion of male and female full pay relevant employees in each quartile

Quartile Female Male
First (lower) quartile 53.6% 46.4%
Second quartile 65.3% 34.7%
Third quartile 53.4% 46.6%
Fourth (upper) quartile 48.8% 51.2%
Total people
Female 36,577
Male 29,350
Total 65,927

Note: includes contractors

2017 HMRC overall gender pay gap results

%
Mean gender pay gap – hourly pay 8.4%
Median gender pay gap – hourly pay 12.2%
Mean gender pay gap – bonus pay in the 12 months ending 31 March 10.4%
Median gender pay gap – bonus pay in the 12 months ending 31 March 0.0%
The proportion of male employees paid a bonus in the 12 months ending 31 March 52.2%
The proportion of female employees paid a bonus in the 12 months ending 31 March 54.1%

Proportion of male and female full pay relevant employees in each quartile

Quartile Female Male
First (lower) quartile 54.2% 45.8%
Second quartile 66.8% 33.2%
Third quartile 54.1% 45.9%
Fourth (upper) quartile 47.4% 52.6%

Total people

Female 39,011
Male 30,679
Total 69,690

Note: excludes contractors

Annex C

2018 HMRC gender pay gap results by location

London National
Mean gender pay gap – hourly pay 5.0% 5.5%
Median gender pay gap – hourly pay 9.8% 1.1%
Mean gender pay gap – bonus pay in the 12 months ending 31 March 2.3% 3.9%
Median gender pay gap – bonus pay in the 12 months ending 31 March 20.0% 0%
The proportion of male employees paid a bonus in the 12 months ending 31 March 58.1% 57.6%
The proportion of female employees paid a bonus in the 12 months ending 31 March 61.7% 57.3%

Proportion of male and female full pay relevant employees in each quartile

Quartile Female Male Female Male
First (lower) quartile 57.0% 43.0% 53.0% 47.0%
Second quartile 47.9% 52.1% 67.3% 32.7%
Third quartile 45.6% 54.4% 53.3% 46.7%
Fourth (upper) quartile 45.0% 55.0% 51.6% 48.4%

Total people

London National
Female 4,261 32,241
Male 4,408 24,795
Total 8,669 57,036

Note: excludes contractors

2017 HMRC gender pay gap results by location

London National
Mean gender pay gap – hourly pay 7.0% 6.8%
Median gender pay gap – hourly pay 7.8% 4.0%
Mean gender pay gap – bonus pay in the 12 months ending 31 March 4.9% 8.5%
Median gender pay gap – bonus pay in the 12 months ending 31 March 0.0% -12.5%
The proportion of male employees paid a bonus in the 12 months ending 31 March 45.6% 53.8%
The proportion of female employees paid a bonus in the 12 months ending 31 March 47.0% 55.3%

Proportion of male and female full pay relevant employees in each quartile

Quartile Female % Male % Female % Male %
First (lower) quartile 55.5% 44.5% 54.6% 45.4%
Second quartile 51.4% 48.6% 67.9% 32.1%
Third quartile 46.8% 53.2% 54.4% 45.6%
Fourth (upper) quartile 42.6% 57.4% 50.2% 49.8%

Total people

London National
Female 5,059 33,853
Male 5,145 25,407
Total 10,204 59,260

Note: excludes contractors

Annex D

2018 HMRC gender pay gap results by grade

AA AO O HO BT SO G7 G6 SCS Contractor
Mean gender pay gap – hourly pay -2.9% -4.4% -3.0% -0.9% 1.2% 0.6% -0.8% 0.1% -0.1% 45.1%
Median gender pay gap – hourly pay -13.2% -7.3% -8.8% -4.8% 0.0% 0.8% -4.7% 0.0% 0.5% 59.1%
Mean gender pay gap – bonus pay in the 12 months ending 31 March 14.4% -4.0% 0.0% -2.3% -9.6% -7.3% -12.4% -8.7% -1.2% 0.0%
Median gender pay gap – Bonus pay in the 12 months ending 31 March 0.0% -33.3% 0.0% -20.0 -33.3% -20.0% -36.4% -51.5% -7.5% 0.0%
The proportion of male employees paid a bonus in the 12 months ending 31 March 50.8% 47.1% 58.8% 66.3% 57.7% 68.8% 63.1% 61.3% 33.5% 0.0%
The proportion of female employees paid a bonus in the 12 months ending 31 March 47.1% 47.4% 63.6% 68.1% 63.2% 73.7% 65.4% 67.7% 42.4% 0.0%

2018 HMRC gender pay gap results by grade

Proportion of male and female full pay relevant employees in each quartile

AA AA AO AO O O HO HO BT BT SO SO G7 G7 G6 G6 SCS SCS
Quartile Female % Male % Female % Male % Female % Male % Female % Male % Female % Male % Female % Male % Female % Male % Female % Male % Female % Male %
First (lower) quartile 43.5% 56.5% 52.8% 47.2% 48.4% 51.6% 46.6% 53.4% 42.6% 57.4% 47.7% 52.3% 43.9% 56.1% 44.7% 55.3% 41.3% 58.7%
Second quartile 34.7% 65.3% 52.4% 47.6% 52.0% 48.0% 44.8% 55.2% 30.3% 69.7% 49.8% 50.2% 41.0% 59.0% 40.3% 59.7% 46.7% 53.3%
Third quartile 73.2% 26.8% 66.8% 33.2% 59.7% 40.3% 51.8% 48.2% 31.1% 68.9% 48.0% 52.0% 47.2% 52.8% 41.8% 58.2% 41.3% 58.7%
Fourth (upper) quartile 74.2% 25.8% 78.8% 21.2% 66.4% 33.6% 52.8% 47.2% 29.4% 70.6% 47.6% 52.4% 46.8% 53.2% 43.0% 57.0% 46.2% 53.8%

Contractors

Quartile Female Male
First (lower) quartile 66.7% 33.3%
Second quartile 30.8% 69.2%
Third quartile 15.4% 84.6%
Fourth (upper) quartile 17.3% 82.7%

Total people

AA AO O HO BT SO G7 G6 SCS Contractor
Female 780 15,564 8,764 5,860 326 2,602 1,793 648 165 67
Male 596 9,135 6,670 6,071 652 2,788 2,206 874 212 140
Total 1,376 24,699 15,434 11,931 978 5,390 3,999 1,522 377 207

2017 HMRC gender pay gap results by grade

AA AO O HO BT SO G7 G6 SCS
Mean gender pay gap – hourly pay 2.4% - 4.1% -1.0% 1.3% 1.5% 3.3% 0.0% -0.1% 1.9%  
Median gender pay gap – hourly pay -13.0% - 6.6% - 0.9% - 2.6% 6.4% 1.6% -1.2% -0.2% 3.7%  
Mean gender pay gap - bonus pay in the 12 months ending 31 March 16.4% - 3.5% - 3.1% 2.5% -24.0% -6.5% -11.0% -23.1% 11.7%  
Median gender pay gap - bonus pay in the 12 months ending 31 March 0.0% -50.0% -50.0% -7.1% -266.7% -8.0% -18.5% -84.5% 37.5%  
The proportion of male employees paid a bonus in the 12 months ending 31 March 42.3% 45.7% 51.2% 58.2% 42.2% 63.9% 60.5% 61.5% 40.9%  
The proportion of female employees paid a bonus in the 12 months ending 31 March 48.6% 47.6% 57.1% 61.8% 36.3% 70.0% 62.4% 64.9% 45.4%  

Proportion of male and female employees’ full pay relevant in each quartile

AA AA AO AO O O HO HO BT BT SO SO G7 G7 G6 G6 SCS SCS
Quartile Female % Male % Female % Male % Female % Male % Female % Male % Female % Male % Female % Male % Female % Male % Female % Male % Female % Male %
First (lower) quartile 46.5% 53.5% 54.1% 45.9% 50.8% 49.2% 46.2% 53.8% 47.3% 52.7% 47.4% 52.6% 44.7% 55.3% 41.7% 58.3% 46.5% 53.5%
Second quartile 46.0% 54.0% 53.9% 46.1% 52.1% 47.9% 49.0% 51.0% 42.2% 57.8% 53.5% 46.5% 44.0% 56.0% 39.2% 60.8% 46.5% 53.5%
Third quartile 76.6% 23.4% 66.8% 33.2% 63.7% 36.3% 53.1% 46.9% 40.2% 59.8% 51.2% 48.8% 48.4% 51.6% 41.3% 58.7% 33.7% 66.3%
Fourth (upper) quartile 50.6% 49.4% 78.5% 21.5% 61.1% 38.9% 46.1% 53.9% 32.9% 67.1% 37.9% 62.1% 44.1% 55.9% 41.7% 58.3% 43.7% 56.3%

Total people

AA AO O HO BT SO G7 G6 SCS
Female 939 17,115 9,265 5,889 874 2,460 1,719 598 152
Male 759 9,761 6,916 6,179 1,263 2,699 2,048 851 203
Total 1,698 26,876 16,181 12,068 2,137 5,159 3,767 1,449 355