Inclusivity, diversity and equity in all aspects of our business are fundamental to delivering our mission. Building and maintaining a reputation as a great place to work is critical for attracting and retaining talent from a broad demographic. Gender pay reporting regulations give us the opportunity to share our record in these areas and to deliver our commitment to treating individuals fairly.
Our biggest challenge remains unchanged – to increase the number of women at more senior levels in Railpen, in an industry that has historically been male-dominated. We are determined to achieve this objective. Whilst our Median Hourly Pay Gender Pay Gaps have increased in 2021, our Mean Hourly Pay Gender Pay Gaps have decreased. The tables below detail these changes, comparing 2021 with 2020:
A gender imbalance in favour of males continues to exist in the upper quartile pay range of the organisation, and this is driving the overall gender pay gap.
We are resolute in working through a range of actions to improve gender balance. We continue on this journey and recognise that these activities need time to drive change.
Proportion of men and women across the four pay quartiles
Review of progress in 2021
The changes we embarked upon in 2020 have continued into 2021, as we have started to embed the foundations we laid in 2020, and have commenced our approach to cultural change. We are confident this will positively influence our successes in the future, including improving our Gender Pay Gap. The following paragraphs summarise our progress to date in relation to the initiatives detailed in our previous report.
The Council for Inclusion and Diversity
The Council for Inclusion and Diversity was formed in April 2021. The purpose of the Council is to support the Executive Committee in developing and delivering the Inclusion and Diversity agenda for Railpen. This will be achieved through working collaboratively with Employee Connection Forums and external experts to ensure all proposals focus on making Railpen a truly inclusive place to work. The leading priority delivered by the Council, after consultation and feedback from our employees, is Our People at Work and Home – Working Families:
- Maternity and Adoption paid leave has been increased to the equivalent of 12 months’ salary and Paternity Leave increased to the equivalent of 6 months’ salary, including Statutory Payments.
- Employees, where either they or their partner are undergoing IVF treatment, can request flexible working and/or time away from work to help manage the treatment and/or any failed cycles.
- All employees can request paid time off to help with dependants, family members, caring responsibilities and any emergencies that it is impossible to plan for.
- Paid Bereavement Leave as required, regardless on the nature of the relationship, is also available to all employees.
- Eligibility for all of the benefits detailed above is effective from the start of employment and have been implemented from 1 September 2021.
Working Flexibly
Railpen has learnt a great deal about how the organisation can work flexibly whilst maintaining high levels of achievement throughout the pandemic. As a result of these insights, a hybrid approach to office and home working has been agreed and implemented, which enables the approach to working flexibly to be further developed and embedded, providing opportunities for all employees to manage the balance between work and home.
The Railpen Living Wage
The Railpen Living Wage was introduced from 1 May 2021. This ensures that all permanent and fixed term employees, including Apprentices, will receive a salary of at least £19,500. The Railpen Living Wage has been embedded into the Reward Framework, discussed below, and will be reviewed and updated accordingly on 1 May annually.
New Reward Framework
Following the introduction of the new Reward Policy in 2020, a new Reward Framework has been in effect from 1 January 2021. The Reward Framework is used to ensure all salary increases and compensation packages offered to new employees are fair, and in line with what comparative competitors are currently paying. The Reward Framework is reviewed in its entirety annually. More frequent reviews will be carried out should any areas of the business face significant retention or recruitment challenges. The Reward Framework will support Railpen in ensuring that men and women are remunerated consistently and fairly.
New approach to driving performance
Our new approach to driving performance, introduced in 2020, continues to embed this new and is supported by the new Reward Framework.
Approach to Career Progression and Recruitment
Our Resourcing and Business Partnering teams continue to play a key role in ensuring diverse candidates are shortlisted for vacancies, both internally and externally. They achieve this through challenging external recruitment partners in building the talent pool, and with recruiting managers, by working on ensuring the requirements of each role are articulated and understood, and removing irrelevant criteria to enable a wider pool of candidates to be considered. The focus will continue to be developed and, to support this, two Resourcing Advisers and a Learning and Development Manager will be recruited to support the HR Business Partner team in developing career paths, succession planning and resourcing expertise to ensure talent is retained and recruited.
Since this current reporting period, six senior female employees have been recruited, two of which will become members of the Executive Committee. The average salary of women is 33.6% higher than the average salary of men recruited into the Upper Quartile in this period.
Impact of Bonus Data on Gender Pay Reporting
86.8% of males and 91.3% females received a bonus at Railpen in April 2021 in respect of the 2020 year. This is an increase of 7.7% on the number of females who received a bonus in 2020.
Railpen pay bonuses in April and, consequently, our hourly pay rate numbers including bonus are required to be calculated including pro-rata bonus payments under the regulations. As a result, it is difficult to make external comparisons on a like for like basis, because other companies may pay bonuses at other times of the year, leading to distortions in the calculation of hourly pay.
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