Gender Pay Gap Report 2022

Thistle Seafoods Ltd

Gender Pay Gap Report 2022

Introduction

All UK organisations with over 250 employees are now required by law to carry out annual Gender Pay Reporting under the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017.  The report details a Company’s Gender Pay and Bonus Gaps; the percentage of men and women receiving a bonus; and the proportions of men and women in each pay quartile of the workforce.

An employer must publish six calculations showing their:

• Average gender pay gap as a mean average.
• Average gender pay gap as a median average.
• Average bonus gender pay gap as a mean average.
• Average bonus gender pay gap as a median average.
• Proportion of males receiving a bonus payment and proportion of females receiving a bonus payment.
• Proportion of males and females when divided into four groups ordered from lowest to highest pay.

These calculations are based on figures drawn from a specific date each year. This is called the ‘snapshot date’.  The snapshot date for businesses and charities is the 5th April.

It is important to know that the Gender Pay Gap is not the same as Equal Pay, and it exists in most organisations.

Equal Pay means that men and women performing equal work should generally receive equal pay.

Gender Pay Gap is the difference between men’s and women’s average hourly pay across an organisation, expressed as a percentage, and it is reported as a mean average and median average (mid-point) figure.

Some of the reported reasons for why a Gender Pay Gap exists are as follows:

• Women are often under-represented in senior roles where remuneration is higher.
• Women are more likely to take time out of their careers to start a family or have carer responsibilities; the gap typically widens when women reach the age of 40.
• Some sectors have a higher proportion of part-time roles e.g. health, retail and social care, commonly resulting in a higher proportion of women in entry level roles.
• Educational choices where fewer women work in STEM sectors – science, technology, engineering and mathematics, leading to fewer women in higher-paid specialist roles such as Finance, IT, Engineering and Logistics.

Our 2022 Reported Figures

Comparison between Current Year and Previous Years

Understanding our Gender Pay Gap

On the 5th April 2022 Thistle Seafoods employed 430 members of staff, 247 were male and 183 were female.  The majority worked full time, with only one female member of staff working part-time.

Quartiles

The figures indicate that females are overrepresented in the middle-lower quartile and underrepresented in the upper middle and upper quartiles.  When looking into the data in more detail, 58% of the males in the middle-upper quartile and 81% of the males in the upper quartile are employed in engineering, stores, hygiene and the palletising and airlock section of our chilled coding department.  If the individuals in these departments were removed from the middle-upper and upper quartiles there would be a considerable reduction in the gap between male and females in these quartiles, as illustrated in the table below.

Bonus

One male member of staff received a bonus in 2022.  This was due to his exceptional performance in his role.

Summary

As noted in previous years, the skew of our Gender Pay Gap is caused by our engineering, stores, hygiene, and the palletising and airlock staff of our chilled coding department, being heavily dominated by males.  During the snapshot period (6th April 2021 to 5th April 2022), 66 individuals applied for a position within our engineering department.  None of them were female.  When comparing this to the number of applicants the previous year, there has been an 88% reduction despite the number of vacancies remaining the same.  It is unclear what has driven this reduction.  Both snapshot periods were during the Coronavirus Pandemic and over the course of the two snapshot years, the restrictions placed on individuals’ movements was similar, the same recruitment methods were used, and the salary and benefits continued to be competitive.

This reduction in applications was not mirrored in the 2021 engineering apprenticeship intake.  In fact, we saw an increase in applications from 61 the previous year to 84 this year.  Out of those that applied 80 were male and four were female, which is a similar split to that of previous years.  As per previous years, all candidates were invited to take part in the second stage of the selection process, which involves completing a numerical and comprehension test online.  Three out of the four females did not complete the tests, and the one female that did complete the tests, did not pass them.  Therefore, none of them progressed to the next stage.     

Our Stores, Hygiene and Chilled Coding palletising and airlock positions are advertised both internally and externally.  We are honest regarding the requirements of the role, for example, for stores and chilled coding palletising and airlock they must be able to lift weights up to 25kg and they will be working in very cold conditions (up to -20°C); and for hygiene there is a lot of manual handling, and they will be working unsociable hours.  We have had no female applicants for these positions.  It is unclear why; however, it could be due to the requirements of the role and the working environment.

Closing the Gap Further

As previously reported fewer woman work in STEM sectors, and although there have been several initiatives implemented to try and encourage females into these sectors, small progress has been made.  Data from Women in STEM Statistics https://www.stemwomen.com/women-in-stem-percentages-of-women-in-stem-statistics report a year on year increase in the number of females in STEM sectors, however, there is still considerable work to be done before it is at the same level as the number of males, as shown in the below table.

Thistle Seafoods will continue to implement a fair recruitment process.  Internally all employees have the opportunity to apply for positions advertised, and they are encouraged to do so.  We provide extensive training to aid staff development, and to provide opportunities to those who might not currently have the necessary skills, experience, or qualifications but have a desire to progress.  With regards to external candidates, we use a variety of recruitment methods such, attending careers fairs; advertising on our company website and social media sites, across job boards such as Indeed and Glassdoor, in newspapers and on the radio; and we use approved recruitment agencies.  The same screening process is applied to all applications, candidates participate in the same selection process, and we employ the candidate most suitable for the role.

Approval for this statement

This statement was approved by the Board of Directors on 28th March 2023

Pamela Macdougall

28th March 2023