Gender Pay Gap report 2019
Introduction from Longhurst Group Chief Executive, Julie Doyle
Addressing our gender pay gap remains a significant challenge but it’s an issue that we are extremely focused on and something I am incredibly passionate about.
As an organisation, our vision is to improve people’s lives by focusing on their health and wellbeing and their economic resilience. We are also committed to fairness, providing the best possible employment offer and ensuring equality and inclusion.
A lot of work has taken to place in the last 12 months on each of these fronts but we know there is more we can do. We have strived for greater consistency by consolidating from four member companies to become one organisation and created new terms and conditions for colleagues across the Group.
Unfortunately, the impact of these changes is not reflected in our 2018/19 results, as they cover the period before we consolidated our structure and began our employment offer project.
It is only natural that we compare our latest results with the national average and our figures last year and, on the face of it, it is really disappointing to see our gender pay gap increase to 20.3 percent. However, I know that this isn’t due to complacency or a lack of awareness on our part. We have to acknowledge that we have been through a period of significant organisational change with a lot of changes and harmonising taking place, and we recognise that we still have some way to go.
The vast majority of care and support roles tend to be lower paid and are occupied by women. We are absolutely committed to doing everything we can to mitigate this national trend, this includes providing the best employment offer we possibly can and reviewing the way we recruit to attract more male care and support workers.
We know that the make-up of Longhurst Group makes addressing our gender pay gap extremely challenging.
One of the reasons I am so proud to lead this organisation is the varied and dedicated level of care and support that we provide to people across the Midlands and East of England. In reality, as with society in general, the vast majority of care and support roles tend to be lower paid and are occupied by women.
That said, one of our values as an organisation is to own it and we are absolutely committed to doing everything we can to mitigate this national trend, this includes providing the best employment offer we possibly can and reviewing the way we recruit to attract more male care and support workers.
Discrepancies in the way bonuses have historically been awarded across the organisation has also had an impact. We have taken steps to address this through the work we’ve done scrutinising our terms and conditions to push the boundaries and make them as fair as possible while ensuring we remain competitive.
On a more positive note, I’m extremely proud that the leadership team guiding our organisation is extremely well represented by women, with four of us on the Executive Team and eight female Directors. Our Group Board is also strongly represented, with four of nine roles fulfilled by women.
We are always mindful of doing everything we can to give our people the opportunity and the platform to progress and that is shown in the case studies included in this report; a report that acknowledges we have much to do to improve our gender pay gap but also outlines our commitment and determination to doing exactly that.
Julie Doyle
Chief Executive, Longhurst Group
Our Gender Pay Gap results |
| Gender Pay and Gender Bonus Gap |
| Pay quartiles |
| Gender Pay Gap by member company |
| Bonus Pay Gap by member company |
| Bonuses received by member company |
| Pay distribution |
Our Gender Pay Gap results
At Longhurst Group, we pride ourselves on being fair and promoting a culture of inclusiveness, working as one team to improve the lives of not just our customers, but our 1,200 colleagues as well.
In 2017, in our first report of this kind, we identified the gender pay gap within our organisation and since then, we’ve been working hard to address it.
In July 2019, Longhurst Group became one organisation after we consolidated the structure of our four member companies (Axiom Housing Association, Friendship Care & Housing, L&H Homes and Spire Homes) to form a single organisation, known as Longhurst Group.
For the purposes of our 2018/19 Gender Pay Gap report, we have included group-wide details, as well as the results of each former member company.
Gender Pay and Gender Bonus Gap
Proportion of colleagues receiving a bonus in 2019
Pay quartiles
Gender Pay Gap by member company – 2018–2019
Bonus Pay Gap by member company – 2018–2019
Bonuses received by member company – 2018–2019
Note: Axiom colleagues did not receive a bonus during this period
Pay distribution
Below is the percentage split of where men and women sat in quartile pay bands during 2018–2019, by former member company.