Ethnicity and disability pay gap information
Victim Support has been publishing its gender pay gap since 2017 in line with regulatory requirements. Ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting is not yet a legal requirement but as part of Victim Support’s commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and in line with our EDI strategy we have decided to publish our ethnicity and disability pay gap data for 2020/21 and will continue to do so each year to show our progress.
At Victim Support we are committed to ensuring that our teams are representative of the communities in which we work. For us this means ensuring that we are representative of all protected characteristics and that all staff and volunteers feel able and confident to bring their whole selves to work and are able to develop and succeed.
What is an ethnicity and disability pay gap?
An ethnicity pay gap refers to the difference between what is paid to Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) employees and White employees when analysed collectively.
A disability pay gap refers to the difference between what is paid to disabled employees and non-disabled employees when analysed collectively.
How is the data collected?
Victim Support collects anonymous EDI monitoring data for all staff and volunteers so that we can monitor how representative we are of the communities we serve. Completing this data is not mandatory and as of June 2020 75% of staff had submitted their ethnicity and disability data. Therefore, the below figures are not completely representative of all staff within VS but give an initial indication of where pay gaps exist. We continue to encourage all staff to complete their EDI data to ensure that our future pay gap analysis is even more reflective of our staff population.
Victim Support staff demographics
As of June 2020:
- 13% of Victim Support staff identify as BAME, 61% identify as White, 1% preferred not to respond and 25% of staff have not declared their ethnicity.
- 9% of Victim Support staff identify as being disabled, 63% identify as not being disabled, 2% preferred not to respond and 26% have not declared if they are disabled or not.
Victim Support ethnicity pay gap data
Within our ethnicity pay gap analysis Victim Support uses the term BAME to describe all ethnic groups other than White ethnic groups. However, we know that the experiences of those from different ethnic groups are not the same and that scrutiny of the experiences of specific ethnic groups is needed in order to identify the individual barriers faced by specific groups. Where data sets have allowed we have carried out this analysis, e.g. separate analysis for Black, Asian and mixed ethnicity staff compared with White staff.
For the financial year 2020/2021, BAME staff’s mean pay is 0.5% lower than White staff’s pay, while BAME staff’s median pay is 3.4% higher than White staff’s pay.
The distribution of BAME and White employees across quartile bands is:
| BAME % | White % | |
|---|---|---|
| Quartile 1 (lowest 25%) | 9% | 91% |
| Quartile 2 (lower middle) | 14% | 86% |
| Quartile 3 (upper middle) | 30% | 70% |
| Quartile 4 (highest 25%) | 17% | 83% |
Why does Victim Support have an ethnicity pay gap?
There is no evidence that our ethnicity pay gap is caused by differences in pay for BAME staff and White staff working in the same role or position.
The mean ethnicity pay gap arises because of a lower representation of BAME staff within the most senior roles within Victim Support. Quartile 4 spans a wide variety of roles and pay bands and although BAME staff represent 17% of this quartile BAME staff are less represented at the top end of this quartile, e.g. Senior Management and Wider Management Team roles.
The median pay for BAME staff is higher than for White staff, resulting in a positive ethnicity pay gap. However, we are mindful of the difference in staff regional ethnicity demographics and the subsequent impact of London weighting on these figures, as a high proportion of the BAME staff within Victim Support receive London weighting. We are committed to ensuring that our pay gap reporting and subsequent actions are proportionate and reflective of the diverse staff population of Victim Support across England and Wales. As such going forward we will continue to monitor the proportion of BAME and White staff that receive London weighting within our pay gap analysis and factor this in to any regionally specific actions to address pay gaps accordingly.
Victim Support disability pay gap data
For the financial year 2020/2021, disabled staff’s mean pay is 12.95% lower than non-disabled staff’s pay, while disabled staff’s median pay is 3.39% lower than non-disabled staff’s pay.
The distribution of disabled and non-disabled employees across quartile bands is:
| Disabled % | Non-disabled % | |
|---|---|---|
| Quartile 1 (lowest 25%) | 19% | 81% |
| Quartile 2 (lower middle) | 14% | 86% |
| Quartile 3 (upper middle) | 15% | 85% |
| Quartile 4 (highest 25%) | 6% | 94% |
Why does Victim Support have a disability pay gap?
There is no evidence that our disability pay gap is caused by differences in pay for disabled and non-disabled staff working in the same role or position.
The disability pay gap arises because the ratio of disabled staff to non-disabled staff at Victim Support decreases at higher levels of the organisation — meaning there is a higher percentage of non-disabled staff in managerial positions when we compare this to the percentage of non-disabled and disabled staff in more junior roles. This influences both the mean and median gaps.
What action is Victim Support taking?
Addressing the above pay gaps means further scrutinising our recruitment practices and ensuring that there are not barriers to progression for BAME and disabled staff within Victim Support. This work is in line with our Inclusion Matters EDI strategy 2019 – 2022.
During 2020, an EDI recruitment audit has been carried out and this will be reviewed annually to ensure that EDI is embedded throughout the recruitment cycle. As a result of the audit this year we have:
- Piloted the use of disability and BAME targeted recruitment sites to encourage applicants from underrepresented groups.
- Updated the EDI pages of the VS website to better communicate our commitment to diverse recruitment.
- Updated the EDI statement included on our jobs website and within recruitment packs to have more specific reference to ethnicity and disability.
Actions that we intend to take during 2021 include:
- Expand upon the training that staff with recruitment responsibilities receive regarding EDI and bias within the recruitment cycle.
- Anonymously analyse applicant EDI data from application, interview and appointment to identify exactly where in the recruitment process BAME and disabled applicants may experience barriers.
- Produce more supporting materials and resources for recruiting managers that provide updated guidance of how to conduct inclusive interviews and additional considerations regarding EDI in the recruitment cycle.
- Where resource allows promoting vacancies on BAME and disability specific recruitment sites.
- Encouraging senior managers to review the EDI data of their teams on a quarterly basis to identify particular areas where they are not representative of their local demographics and determining local plans to address these.
- Raising awareness of reasonable adjustments, empowering more staff to feel able to make a reasonable adjustment request and access the support that they need in order to develop and succeed within VS.
- Piloting a BAME mentoring programme which aims to provide BAME staff development opportunities. If this pilot is successful it could then be rolled out to other minority and marginalised groups, such as those that are disabled.