Gender pay position in 2018

As a mutual, Wesleyan takes the value of "We Care" seriously. We care about our customers, our communities and of course our employees.

We are committed to creating a working environment where all our employees are valued equally. We welcome the second annual gender pay gap report which sees UK employers, with over 250 employees, report on their gender pay gap. This is a measure of the difference between men and women's average earnings across an organisation.

As with many financial services organisations, we have a gender pay gap which we are working hard to address. This gap is due to the current employee composition of our business. We have a higher proportion of men in senior positions to women and our Specialist Financial Advisers who have above average earning potential represent almost a quarter of our workforce and are predominantly men (75%). However, our data also shows that where men and women are performing similar roles, there is no pay gap.

For Specialist Financial Advisers specifically, UK-wide this is a predominantly male industry which contributes to the pay gap position. However we are pleased to have above industry average numbers of women in these roles.

Wesleyan gender pay gap results

As of April 2018, Wesleyan's average mean pay for women is 33% lower than that of men (2017: 30%). This is a Group position which includes all our subsidiary companies.

Wesleyan bonus pay gap results

As of April 2018, women's bonus pay is 53% lower than men's.

The Bonus Pay Gap is larger than the Gender Pay Gap for two reasons. Firstly, because 18% of women are employed on a part time basis, compared with only 2% of men. Secondly, some bonus payments at Wesleyan are calculated as a percentage of total annual pay. Therefore, even though the basis for awarding a bonus is identical; because we have more men in senior positions the pay gap identified above contributes to the bonus gap also.

What has changed since our last report

There have been a number of changes in the make-up of our Executive team which will have had a positive impact on our gender pay gap. Whilst it is not yet reflected in our numbers, since our last report 66% of executive promotions have been to women and we have seen an increase in the number of women in our 'upper middle' quartile - supporting our drive to have at least 33% of senior management positions and above filled by women by 2023.

How we are reducing the gender pay gap

As an employer of choice, we set out to recruit the best people for the job, irrespective of gender, race, or any other factor. We are working hard to improve the diversity of our organisation, most importantly broadening the pool of applicants who wish to apply to work with us.

We remove gender bias through training and recruitment processes and play an active role in supporting minority groups in the workplace e.g. Wesleyan's LGBT network and Gender Employee network.

We have always striven to ensure men and women receive equal pay for doing equivalent roles across the Society and have an active salary benchmarking regime. While a gender pay gap exists, our analysis shows this is in the main due to the gender splits in certain key roles and at more senior levels.

This is what we are working on

We understand why the gender pay gap exists, recognise there is work to be done and are focussed on the steps we need to take to close the gap. Actions to address the gender pay include (but are not exclusive to):

• Gender employee network
• LGBT+ network
• Unconscious Bias training for all employees
• Advertising roles in new channels such as WorkingMums.co.uk
• Signatories of HM Treasury's Women in Finance Charter with a commitment to having 33% women in senior roles by 2023
• Members of the 30% Club, with a self-set target to achieve 33% of senior roles held by women
• Founding member of Women in Business network (in our home City of Birmingham) as well as supporting other local business networks on topics relating to Women in business
• A five-year membership commitment to WISE, the campaign for gender balance in the UK science, technology and engineering sectors.
• Founding signatories of the Inclusive Insurance Pledge

Progress so far

Many of the above were introduced in 2018 and as such have had limited time to have an impact on our gender pay gap and we recognise that it will take time for the gap to close. We are however very proud of our progress and have already seen tangible benefits across our business. These initiatives were supported by our employees and received high scores in our recent employee opinion survey.

Wesleyan is a great place to work, with opportunities and careers for talented people. Our efforts in reducing the gender pay gap are a crucial part of this, and we are committed to making this happen.

Caroline Hill, Chief People and Strategy Officer