DWF's combined gender pay gap, which includes pay data for all UK employees and partners, has fallen by 2 percentage points and combined from 37 per cent in 2020 to 35 per cent in 2021 in mean terms. As a median, the combined median gender pay gap reduced by 5 percentage points from 33 per cent in 2020 to 28 per cent 2021.
For employees only, the mean gender pay gap has fallen again, from 21 per cent in 2020 to 17 per cent. For partners, it has decreased from 13 to 11 per cent. However in median terms, partner pay gap has increased by 2 percentage points.
Helen Hill, Chief People Officer at DWF, said: "We are continuing to make progress year on year to narrow our gender pay gap. Our positive course is a strong indicator that consistent application of our guiding pay principles, coupled with the evolving good practice across recruitment, succession planning and promotions is having an impact and we will continue to ensure that colleagues are valued and rewarded fairly for the work they do.
"However, the issue remains that our pay gap is largely the result of having more men at senior levels in higher paid roles and a higher proportion of women relative to men in roles that fall within our lower pay quartiles. Our new Diversity & Inclusion targets signal our intent to do better to accelerate the pace of change."
For a second year running, as part of a commitment to transparency and meeting target promises, DWF is reporting its combined ethnicity pay gap, which includes employees and partners in England and Scotland who have volunteered their diversity information. This is currently 24 per cent (mean) and 23 per cent (median). DWF's combined ethnicity bonus gap is 19 per cent in mean terms.
Helen added: "We are committed to increasing the representation of minority ethnic employees across all career bands and when compared to 2020 and we have seen an increase across all pay quartiles. However, we continue to see the largest representation of minority ethnic employees in the lower pay quartile and fell short of achieving our initial target of at least 10% Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic representation across senior leadership positions (currently 4%).
"We recognise that reducing our gender and ethnicity pay gaps requires a sustained effort at every level of our business, and at every point in the employee life cycle, from attraction and recruitment through to development, succession planning and promotion. We believe our sustained focus on our targets will result in a more-diverse workforce, supported and empowered by our inclusive culture and values."
