The Ford & Slater 2017 Gender Pay Gap Annual Report 9th October 2017

Pay & Bonus Gender Gap Calculations 

 
The table above shows our overall mean and median gender pay gap based on hourly rates of pay as at the snapshot date (i.e. 5th April 2017).  It also captures the mean and median difference between bonuses paid to men and women at Ford & Slater in the year ended 5th April 2017 i.e. mainly in relation to the 2016 financial year.

The Proportion of Males and Females Receiving a Bonus Payment

 
The data shown above highlights that one in three male employees received a bonus payment during the year ended 5th April 2017 whereas only one in eight female employees received a similar bonus. This is a mainly a function of the following key factors: • The company operates in the male-dominated transport sector; • Efficiency bonuses are available to certain HGV technicians if they complete their work task in a shorter time period than normally allowed by the truck manufacturer; and • The majority of positions that include membership of the company annual bonus scheme are occupied by male employees with engineering expertise obtained from working as an HGV Technician or relevant parts background.
The company believes that men and women are paid equal amounts for doing equivalent jobs across our business.  

 
Pay Quartiles

 
The above charts illustrate the gender distribution at Ford & Slater across four equally sized quartiles, each containing approximately 100 employees. 

The key points to note are as follows:

• In the lowest quartile male employees are being paid at average hourly rates that are over 10% lower than female employees.  This quartile includes a number of school leavers that join the company as apprentice HGV technicians;

• Within the second and third quartiles the gender pay gap for 2017 was within 5 per cent;

• In the highest quartile (quartile 4) there remain only a small proportion of women in the most senior company positions; in particular the six company directors of Ford & Slater as at April 2017 were all male.  

Overall Summary

At the outset, the company is committed to building a diverse and committed workplace that gives equal opportunities to all employees, irrespective of their gender. The HGV transport sector is somewhat male-dominated and, as at the calculation date, the workforce gender breakdown was 85% male employees with only 15% of the workforce comprising female staff members. A significant proportion of the gender pay gap arises because the majority of senior management positions are occupied by male employees with an engineering background gained from their prior experience as an HGV Technician or relevant HGV parts background. The company is considering the development of an action plan to reduce the gender pay gap in the workplace.

I confirm that the data reported is accurate.
 

Nigel Strevens

Joint Managing Director

9th October 2017