COVID impacts gender pay

covid

New reporting arrangements

  • Due to the coronavirus outbreak, the UK’s Government Equalities Office (GEO) and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) suspended enforcement of the gender pay gap deadlines for 2019/20, meaning there was no expectation on employers to report their data last year.
  • The usual deadline for 2021 reporting is now upon us, but with the impact of the pandemic ongoing, employers have an additional six months – until 5 October 2021 – to report their gender pay gap information this year.

Other impacts of COVID

  • Unfortunately, the impact of COVID is expected to worsen the gender diversity landscape – with women across all industries expected to be more likely to face redundancy or experience changes to roles or hours.
  • It has been reported that 17-year-old women were most likely to be furloughed, which isn’t great news for women making the first steps in their careers. The exclusion of furlough workers from the gender pay gap reporting will affect company pay gap results too, and whether positive or negative will take careful explaining in the supporting narrative.
  • However, there are also plenty of opportunities to capitalise on the newly established flexible and home working arrangements that were previously considered impossible or impractical (but have been proven to work for so many of us). A more results-driven culture has reigned, with less onus on simply being seen to be present. The improved work life balance arising – benefitting both men and women – should drive new career opportunities for women that may not otherwise have been feasible.

Results in maritime

  • The UK has one of the largest gender pay gaps in Europe, and Spinnaker analysis reveals the maritime industry has one of the highest gaps in the country. 
  • The benefits of diversity come from employing women at all levels of the hierarchy and across all job functions, and this is where the industry challenges lie. Maritime HR Association data reveals 95% of all admin roles are occupied by women, compared to just 5% of executive leadership team roles. The job families where women are less well represented are those that drive higher market salaries too; for example technical & marine, chartering & freight trading and shipbroking.
  • These factors drive the gender pay gap –a mean average male salary of £67,000 in the UK compared to £38,500 for females, generating a pay gap of more than 40%. The bonus gap is greater still, and while the number of bonus payments was down across the board in 2020, women remain less likely to receive any sort of bonus pay at all.

Next steps

  • Spinnaker will continue to use its Maritime HR Association data to review the industry pay gap, compare this to UK overall (once available), increase awareness globally and promote diversity and inclusion best practice.  

If you want to find out more, please get in touch with Spinnaker’s Sarah Hutley at [email protected].

Access talent from Henley Business School’s Shipping Programmes

graduates

The 2021 Shipping Masters graduates from Henley Business School are now looking for work placements or permanent positions.

Henley Business School is one of the world’s leading business schools with its Masters programmes ranked 5th in the UK and among the top 50 in the world by the Financial Times’ 2020 rankings.

The School’s flagship MSc International Shipping and Finance has been developed alongside senior industry professionals and is designed to equip candidates with the practical skills and expertise sought after by employers in the sector. The fact that more than 95% of the programme’s graduates have secured full time employment six months after the completion of their studies is reflective of the quality of its graduates as well as its widespread recognition within the sector. Spinnaker has been a partner of the programme since its inception in 2012 and has placed a number of Henley students in full time roles and internships.

The programme includes a summer placement scheme enabling its candidates to gain work experience at the end of their studies. The placements can be minimum 1 month and maximum 3 months and could take place anytime between June and September 2021. This could provide extra resource for your team or support with a specific project. If you are looking to hire someone on a longer term basis, a student could complete the first 3 months as a placement, with the option to continue as a graduate. Minimal supervision is required and Henley students are encouraged to be proactive and take on responsibility.

During their time in the placement, interns remain full time students of Henley Business School and visa arrangements are covered throughout the duration of the placement. By the end of the placement they must submit a reflective self-evaluation report graded by their programme Director at Henley.

If you have an interest in joining the scheme and offering a summer placement please email directly the programme Director George Alexandridis, [email protected] to discuss further. Henley will advertise your role to the students, provide you with summary profiles for candidates, and if required facilitate arrangements for interviews and allocate a dedicated account manager as first point of contact.