Workforce Report Jan 2016 (2) · Workforce data on protected equality characteristics is collected and stored within an integrated Human Resources and Payroll system. The data has

Bedford Borough Council

Workforce Equality Report 2014-15

January 2016

Item 7(b)

1

Contents

Terminology

Introduction

Background

Scope of report

Data reporting and interpretation

Local information

Our workforce

Recruitment

Employees leaving the organisation

Disciplinary and Grievances

Pay

Pay analysis

Top 5% Earners

Policies and initiatives

Training

Concluding statement

Appendices

Appendix A: Progress on employer related equality objectives

Appendix B: Progress on 2013-14 actions

Appendix C: Workforce by ethnicity

Appendix D: Recruitment data

Appendix E: Pay Gap summary sex and ethnicity

Appendix F: Top 5% of earners

Appendix G: HR Policies

2 - 4

5 - 7

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5

5

7

8 - 13

14 - 16

17 - 18

19 - 20

21 - 30

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29

31

32 - 33

34

35 - 50

35

37

40

41

43

47

49

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Terminology

Some of the terminology used in this report relates specifically to either

employment or to the Equality Act 2010. This glossary explains what we mean

in this report when we use certain words or phrases.

Age1 Protected characteristic of age. Refers to employees who

share this characteristic. It includes employees belonging to

a particular age (e.g. 32 year olds) or a range of ages (e.g.

18 - 30 year olds)

Black and

Minority

Ethnic (BME)

Refers to all non-‘White British’ employees. Also known as

‘ethnic minority’.

Casual

workers

Casual workers are engaged without mutuality of obligation

and are therefore not employees, but workers with statutory

rights only.

Disability2 Protected characteristic of disability. Refers to employees

who share this characteristic. An employee has a disability if

s/he has a physical or mental impairment which has a

substantial and long-term adverse effect on that person's

ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

Employed

workers

Employed workers are employees, employed on contracted

hours with contractual entitlements.

Ethnic

minority

Refers to all non-‘White British’ employees. Also known as

‘Black and Minority Ethnic’ (BME).

Full Time

Equivalent

(FTE)

A Full Time Equivalent of 1 is equivalent to a full time

employee. Hours worked by part time employees are pro-

rated accordingly.

Gender

reassignment3

Protected characteristic of gender reassignment. Refers to

employees who share this characteristic. Refers to the

process of transitioning from one sex to another. An

employee has this protected characteristic if they are

undergoing or proposing to undergo any part of a process to

change attributes of their sex.

Gender Relates to the sex of employees.

Headcount The number of Council employees regardless of full or part

1 S.5 Equality Act 2010 2 S.6 Equality Act 2010 3 S.7 Equality Act 2010

3

time hours.

Known Data Information reported by employees on their protected

characteristics and recorded on the Council’s information

systems.

LGBT Refers to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender.

Marriage and civil partnership4

Protected characteristic of marriage and civil partnership.

Refers to employees who share this characteristic. Relates

to an employee who is married or is a civil partner.

Protected

characteristic5

The nine different characteristics that are recognised and

protected by the Equality Act 2010. It is unlawful to

discriminate against or treat less favourably, employees, or

applicants for employment, because of a protected

characteristic.

Race6 Protected characteristic of race. Refers to employees who

share this characteristic. Relates to an employee of a

particular racial group; also includes colour, nationality

(including citizenship), ethnic or national origins.

Relief workers Relief workers are individuals engaged on zero hours

contracts, but with employee status and contractual

entitlements.

Religion and

Belief7

Protected characteristic of religion and belief. Refers to

employees who share this characteristic. It includes

employees who have a religious or philosophical belief and

those with a lack of belief (e.g. Atheism).

Sex8 Protected characteristic of sex. Refers to employees who

share this characteristic. Refers to employees who are men

or women.

Sexual

orientation9

Protected characteristic of sexual orientation. Refers to

employees who share this characteristic. Relates to whether

an employees’ sexual attraction is towards their own sex,

the opposite sex or to both sexes.

TUPE Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)

Regulations 2006 (amended) provides contractual protection

4 S.8 Equality Act 2010 5 S.4 Equality Act 2010 6 S.9 Equality Act 2010 7 S.10 Equality Act 2010 8 S.11 Equality Act 2010 9 S.12 Equality Act 2010

4

for employees transferring into or out of the Council.

Unknown Data

Information not recorded on the Council’s information

systems. This includes instances where employees have

actively chosen not to self report information on their

protected characteristics by selecting ‘prefer not to say’.

Working Age

Population

The Office for National Statistics defines the working-age

population as those aged 16-64 years. It is the same for both

men and women to reflect the increasing age at which women

will be eligible for the state pension.

5

Introduction Background

Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 (the Public Sector Equality Duty)

and the Equality Act 2010 Specific Duties Regulations 2011, the Council is

required to publish equality information to demonstrate our compliance with

the general equality duty. This Workforce Equality Report forms part of our

response to the Public Sector Equality Duty. Our workforce monitoring data is

collected, monitored and published to help us understand who our workforce

is; and to show the impact of our employment policies and practices and how

we are meeting our responsibilities as an employer in regards to equality.10

Scope of report

Bedford Borough Council is proud of the diversity of its staff. We seek to

achieve equality of opportunity in all aspects of employment. In April 2012 the

Council agreed two equality objectives relating to our role as an employer.

These are:

To improve workforce data and address barriers to

employment for equality groups underrepresented in the

workforce.

To develop the culture of the Council so that all employees are

able to demonstrate commitment to the principles of equality

in carrying out their roles, both in the workplace and in the

delivery of services.

The report provides an update on our equality objectives (Appendix A) and an

update on what we said we would do and what we have achieved since the

last report (2013/14) (Appendix B).

This report covers the period 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015. The Council now

has diversity information for a four year period allowing us to assess progress.

In doing so, the report identifies disparities in outcomes for our different

employee groups and indicates where we need to improve.

Data reporting and interpretation

Workforce data on protected equality characteristics is collected and stored

within an integrated Human Resources and Payroll system. The data has

been analysed by Human Resources and Corporate Policy for this report.

10 The report does not include school based staff even where the Council is the employer.

6

Much of the information relies on employees self-reporting and providing their

information through the Council’s ‘My View’ system.

Unless otherwise stated, the analyses presented in this report are based on

‘known data’ only. This means data that employees have not self disclosed,

and therefore is not held on the Council’s integrated information system, has

not been included. Table 1 shows the percentage of total employees for which

equality data is known and recorded. As a result of encouraging employees to

provide their information, known data for all protected characteristics has

increased since the last report, with the exception of information on gender

reassignment (for more information see Appendix B).

Our integrated Human Resources and Payroll system does not currently allow

us to capture information on gender reassignment. We are waiting for the

integrated system to be upgraded to be able to record employee information

for all protected characteristics.

For some protected characteristics self-reporting by employees is still low,

particularly for disability, religion and belief and sexual orientation. Where this

is the case, data collected through the staff survey in 2013 and the staff

experience survey in 2014 has also been considered in this report and is

referenced alongside the data from the Council’s integrated information

system. Some data sets remained small, which made robust analysis

problematic and meant that statistically significant and meaningful conclusions

could not always be drawn. Where data held risks of identifying employees,

we have either not published this information or combined categories.

Table 1: Known data for employees11

Protected Characteristic Known Data

% 2013-14

Known Data

% 2014-15

Unknown

Data %

Age 100 100 0.0

Disability 37.2 46.3 53.7

Gender Reassignment 0.0 0.0 100

Marriage & Civil Partnership 47.4 53.7 46.4

Pregnancy & maternity 100 100 0.0

Race (Ethnicity) 86.0 89.4 10.6

Religion & Belief 35.7 52.0 48.0

11 Percentages are rounded and so the sum total may not be 100%.

7

Sex 100 100 0.0

Sexual Orientation 35.5 51.0 49.0

Local information

To understand the impact of employment policies and practices, our

workforce information is compared with local demographic information and

national population data and research.

Information about Bedford Borough can be found at:

www.bedford.gov.uk/intelligence Key demographic features of Bedford

Borough are:

Bedford Borough is home to 163,92412 people and has a working age

population of 124,626 people.

11.7% of Borough residents aged 18-64 have a long term health

problem or disability which affects their day-to-day activities.

Bedford Borough is one of the most ethnically diverse authorities in the

East of England, with up to 100 different ethnic groups living within its

boundaries. 28.5% of the Borough population are from a Black or

Minority Ethnic community (are non -'White British'); for the working

age population this increases to 29.2%.

10.2% of residents are providing unpaid care to someone on a weekly

basis.

69.8% of people consider themselves to have a religion.

There is no local data about the number of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and

Transgendered people living in Bedford Borough. The ONS 2013

Integrated Household Survey estimates that 1.6% of the population are

gay, lesbian and bisexual. Based on the Bedford Borough population of

people aged 16+ in 2013, this estimate equates to 2063 people.

12 ONS 2014 Mid Year Population Estimates

8

Our Workforce Overview of our total workforce13

As at 31 March 2015 the Council had 2301 members of staff.14 Of the total

workforce, 1252 work on a full time basis (63.39%) and 723 are part time

(36.61%). In total, 326 are casual/relief workers (14.17%). Of those that work

part time or who are casual/relief workers, the number of women is

significantly higher than the number of men, 847 compared to 202.

From April 2014 – March 2015, 230 new staff members joined the Council

and 380 people left employment. The headcount increased from the last

workforce report and the number of part time employees also increased. This

is mainly due to the transfer of BUPA employees to the Council in April 2014.

The BUPA employees are mostly care workers and more likely to work part

time.

Table 2: Headcount

Our workforce by age

The age profile of Bedford Borough

Council staff is presented in Table 3

and Chart 1. The age profile of our

workforce remains relatively

unchanged from the previous two

workforce reports with around two

fifths of our workforce aged 50+.

Approximately half (51.76%) of our workforce are aged 25-49, which is a

slightly higher percentage than residents of Bedford Borough (48.6%).15 The

Council has a higher percentage of employees aged 50-64 (36.20%) than the

population of Bedford Borough (26.3%). Both of these age cohorts are too

large for analysis and further examination is required at smaller age grouping

to understand any trends.

13 The report excludes school-based staff. 14 The Council headcount counts individuals who are multiple post holders for each post held, e.g. an individual with two posts will be counted twice within the headcount. 15When compared to the total population of Bedford Borough aged 18-74 based on 2014 Mid Year Population Estimates (ONS).

2013-14 2014-15Headcount 2151 2301Leavers 520 380Starters 142 230

Table 3: Workforce by age Total % Under 25 163 7.08 25-49 1191 51.76 50-64 833 36.20 65+ 114 4.95 Total 2301 100

9

Younger employees are underrepresented in the workforce; the percentage of

employees aged under 25 (7.08%) is less than the percentage of residents

aged 18-24 in Bedford Borough (12.1%). Older employees (over 65) are also

under-represented in the workforce; however this is in line with economic

activity trends for this and older age groups.

Chart 1: Bedford Borough and Council workforce by age

Our workforce by disability

The disability profile of

Bedford Borough Council

staff is presented in

Table 4.The number of

individuals self reporting

disability information has

increased year on year.

Data on employees’ disability is held for 46.3% of our workforce. This

increase reflects ongoing efforts and activities to increase self reporting.

Based on known data 7.41% of staff members have declared a disability,

which is an increase from 2014 when it was 5.88%. The known data indicates

that individuals with a disability are underrepresented in the workforce. The

number of staff members who declared a disability is lower than the

percentage of residents of Bedford Borough where 11.7% of the Borough

population aged 18-64 has a long term health problem or disability which

4.9513.1

36.2 26.3

51.76 48.6

7.08 12.1

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Workforce Bedford Borough

18-24

25-49

50-64

65-74

Table 4: Workforce by disability Disability Total %No 987 92.59Yes 79 7.41Unknown 1351 -

Total for which data is known 1066 100

10

affects their day-to-day activities. However, the Council has met the 2014-15

target to have a workforce with at least 6% disabled staff members.16

Our workforce by ethnicity

Ethnicity data is known for 89.40% of the workforce (2057 individuals).

The ethnicity profile of Bedford Borough Council staff is presented in

Appendix A.

28.5% of the Borough population are from a Black or Minority Ethnic

community (non-'White British'); for the working age population this increases

to 29.2%. In comparison, a lower percentage of our workforce are from an

ethnic minority group (19.8%), indicating that individuals from an ethnic

minority background are underrepresented in the workforce. However, the

Council has met the 2014-15 target to have a workforce with at least 16% of

all staff from an ethnic minority background.17

Ethnicity data for our workforce shows that the percentage of our workforce

from an ethnic minority group has increased by 4% since March 2014. The

largest groups of ethnic minority workers come from Indian ethnic group,

followed by White Other18 and Black Caribbean. In comparison, the largest

ethnic minority groups in Bedford Borough are White Other, followed by Indian

and Pakistani.

Our workforce by gender reassignment

Currently our integrated Human Resources and Payroll system does not allow

us to capture information on gender reassignment. Our Staff Survey in 2013

reported 10 employees as having a different gender than the one assigned at

birth.

Our workforce by marital status

The profile of our workforce by marital status is presented in Table 5.

16The Council has Human Resources targets in regards, to disability, ethnicity and disability as part of the Best Value Performance Indicators. The targets exclude casual workers. 17 See footnote 16 above. 18 White Other includes more established ethnic groups in Bedford Borough such as the Italian community, and more recently arrived Eastern European ethnic groups such as the Polish community.

11

Table 5: Workforce by marital status

Bedford Borough

% Council %

In a registered same-sex civil partnership 217 0.2 16 1.30Divorced or formerly in a same-sex civil partnership which is now legally dissolved

11,599 9.2 95 7.69

Married

61,937 49.2 717 58.06

Not married

- - 4 0.32

Separated( but still legally married or still legally in a same-sex civil partnership)

3,462 2.8 16 1.30

Single (never married or never registered a same-sex civil partnership)

40,205 31.9 372 30.12

Widowed or surviving partner from a same-sex civil partnership

8,451 6.7 13 1.05

Total for which data is known 125,871 1235 100 Data on staff members’ marital status is held for 53.67% of the workforce. The

data indicates a lesser percentage of staff members are married than in

comparison to the 16+ population of Bedford Borough. However the

percentage of staff members in a registered same sex civil partnership is

representative of Bedford Borough. It is difficult to come to any conclusions

about the marital status of the workforce because for 46.33% of staff this data

is undisclosed. Analysis will be more meaningful with more data. From the

data above there appears to be no issues to address.

Our workforce by religion and belief

The profile of our workforce by religion and belief is presented in Table 6.

Data on workers’ religion and belief is held for 52.02% of the workforce; this is

an increase from the previous report where data was held for 35.7%. Overall

our workforce by religion and belief is representative of the local community.

Christianity is the largest religious group of 18 to 64 year olds within the

Borough according to the 2011 census and this is reflected in our workforce at

60.99%.

Table 6: Workforce by religion and belief

Bedford Borough Council Number % Number % Christian 93,346 59.3 730 60.99Buddhist 509 0.3 12 1.00Hindu 2,420 1.5 23 1.92Jewish 171 0.1 2 0.17

12

Muslim 8,610 5.5 26 2.17Sikh 3,336 2.1 28 2.34Other religion 1,506 1.0 35 2.92No religion 37,229 23.6 341 28.49Religion not stated 10,352 6.6 1104 -Total (data known) *157,479 100 **1197 100

* Based on 2011 Census

**Workforce total excludes unknown data (religion not stated)

Our workforce by sex

The gender split between male and female

staff has stayed relatively the same since the

last report: 65.28% female and 34.72% male.

Our workforce by sexual orientation

Data on staff members’ sexual orientation is

held for 49.02% of our workforce; this is an increase from the previous report

where data was held for 35.5%. The data indicates that the vast majority

(97.70%) of our workforce is ‘heterosexual’. Our Staff Experience Survey in

2014 reported similar levels, with 95.5% of employees reporting as

heterosexual and 3.3% reporting as lesbian, gay or bisexual. It is difficult to

benchmark this using national data, as estimates of the gay, lesbian and

bisexual population varies greatly.19

Summary

Self-reporting of protected characteristics information has increased since the

2014/14 report. However, it is still low particularly for disability, religion and

belief and sexual orientation.

The Council’s overall workforce data indicates that:

The overall workforce of the Council is largely female and aged 25 –

49 years.

Younger workers, ethnic minority workers (particularly individuals

from ‘White Other’ ethnic group), and disabled workers are

underrepresented in the workforce.

What we will do:

19 The ONS 2013 Integrated Household Survey estimates that 1.6% of the population are gay, lesbian and bisexual. The Equality & Human Rights Commission, Review of Equality Statistics (2008) estimates the gay, lesbian and bisexual population is somewhere between 0.3 and 7% of the UK population.

13

Upgrade our Human Resources and Payroll integrated system to collect

information on gender reassignment.

Increase our known data by continuing to encourage staff to self-report on

equalities information.

Increase our known data particularly in regards to disability, sexual

orientation and religion and belief.

Break down age data by smaller age groups, and then by sex and ethnicity

in the next workforce report to better identify trends.

Increase the Council’s target for the percentage of employees20 with a

disability to 9% for 2016-17 and 11% for 2017-18 so that the workforce is

more reflective of the local Bedford Borough population.

Increase the Council’s target for the percentage of employees21 from an

ethnic minority background to 26% for 2016-17 and 29% for 2017-18 so

that the workforce is more reflective of the local Bedford Borough

population.

20 The increased targets relate to employees only and therefor exclude casual workers. 21 See footnote 20 above.

14

Recruitment The recruitment analysis has focussed on the likelihood of applicants who

share a protected characteristic, being offered a position of employment. For

each protected characteristic the recruitment analysis has considered the

percentage of applicants for that protected characteristic who have applied,

have been shortlisted and subsequently have been offered a post. See

Appendix D for data.22

During April 2014 – March 2015, the Council received 1170 job applications.

573 of these applicants were shortlisted for interview. Following the interview

process, 230 applicants were offered a job.

Age

The recruitment analysis has not identified any issues relating to age. In

comparison to the population of Bedford Borough aged 18-74, the percentage

of applicants from those aged under 25 and those aged 50-64 was generally

representative of Bedford Borough. However, there was a higher percentage

of applicants aged 25-49; this age cohort is too large and therefore analysis is

required at smaller age groupings to understand if there are any issues

affecting applicants aged 25-49.

Disability

Based on the information known, applicants with disabilities are

underrepresented in the number of applications received by the Council

(6.4%) in comparison to the percentage of residents in Bedford Borough

(11.7%). Under the Council’s ‘Two Ticks’ disability scheme, approximately

50% of all applicants with a disability are shortlisted for interview.

Ethnicity

70.4% of all applicants are White British and 29.6% of all applications are

from ethnic minority applicants. This reflects the ethnicity of the working age

population of Bedford Borough.

Further analysis shows that no applications were received from Chinese

applicants; White Other applicants are underrepresented in the number of

applications received by the Council; and there are a higher percentage of

22 There was insufficient data from applicants on sexual orientation to include in the analysis.

15

applications received from applicants who are Black or Black British and

Asian or Asian British.

During the recruitment process, ethnic minority applicants become under-

represented. At the shortlisting stage, 77.2% of applicants are White British

and 22.8% are from ethnic minority backgrounds. By the end of the

recruitment process, ethnic minority applicants are underrepresented with

only 18.9% of all applicants who are offered a post being from an ethnic

minority group. In comparison, 81.1% of all applicants who are offered a post

are White British. Further analysis of the data indicates that Black / British

African and Asian / British Indian applicants are particularly affected and less

likely to be shortlisted and less likely to be offered a post.

Religion and Belief

Applicants with no religion are slightly over-represented throughout the

recruitment process. In addition, during the recruitment process, the

representation of applicants who are Christian and Muslim differs. 52.3% of

applicants are Christian and 62.4% of all applicants who are offered a post

are from this background; this is compared to 59.3% of Bedford Borough

population who are Christian. In comparison, 5.5% of the Bedford Borough

population are Muslim: 4.3% of applicants are Muslim and only 1.1% of

applicants who are offered a post are Muslim.

Sex

The recruitment analysis has not identified any significant issues relating to

sex. There are more applicants from women than from men, which reflect the

wider trend for local authorities having a predominantly female workforce.

The application, shortlist and starter split is constant throughout the

recruitment process.

The Council’s recruitment data indicates that:

Applicants with disabilities are underrepresented in the number of

applications received by the Council

White Other applicants are underrepresented in the number of

applications received by the Council

Ethnic minority appointments are underrepresented with only

18.9% of all applicants who are offered a post being from an

ethnic minority group.

16

What we have done to improve equality within recruitment

The 2013-14 workforce report recognised national research which identified

that ethnic minority job applicants can experience discrimination as a result of

recruitment practices at the stage of application if they have non-White British

sounding names;23 and research that showed how unconscious bias can have

an impact in the workplace in regards to recruitment. 24 The Council identified

a number of actions to improve equality outcomes within recruitment.

Progress on these actions are outlined in Appendix B.

What we will do We will break down age data by smaller age groups in the next workforce

report to better identify any recruitment trends.

We will carry out quarterly sample checks on applications from ethnic

minority applicants who are not shortlisted for interview to identify any

trends at short-listing stage.

We will include training on recognising and addressing unconscious bias

as part of the recruitment and selection training.

We will undertake a refresher training programme for those involved in

recruitment.

We will explore how we can increase the diversity of short-listing and

interview panel members.

To address the under representation issue at application stage, from April

2016 we will include a paragraph at the bottom of our vacancies page to

read the following:

We welcome applications from everyone irrespective of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, religion and belief or sexual orientation. However, as people with disabilities and people from certain ethnic minority groups are under-represented across the Council, we would encourage applications from members of these groups.

23 National Centre for Social Research, ‘A test for racial discrimination in recruitment practice in British cities’ (2009). 24 Employers Network for Equality & Inclusion (enei), ‘Disability: A research study on unconscious bias’ (July 2014) http://www.enei.org.uk/data/files/publications/734/Disability-A-Research-Study-on-Unconscious-Bias.pdf

17

Staff leaving the organisation 380 workers left the Council during April 2014 – March 2015. From the

leavers during this period, just under half (47.45%) left the Council due to

personal reasons and 11.84% due to redundancy.

Table 7: Reason for leaving

Reason for leaving Total % Compromise agreement 9 2.37 Conversion 1 0.26 Death In Service 4 1.05 Dismissal - Other 10 2.63 Dismissal: Summary 2 0.53 Fixed Term Contract: End 2 0.53 Redundancy 45 11.84 Resignation: Did not start 1 0.26 Resignation: Maternity (Not returning) 3 0.79 Resignation: New Position - Local Gov. 1 0.26 Resignation: New Position - Private Sect 2 0.53 Resignation: New Position - Public Sect 1 0.26 Resignation: Personal Reasons 180 47.45 Resignation: Re-Location 2 0.53 Resignation: Undisclosed 79 20.79 Retirement: Early 5 1.32 Retirement: Early Due To Ill Health 5 1.32 Retirement: Standard 27 7.10 TUPE Out 1 0.26 Total 380 *100

*Percentages have been rounded and may not total 100%

Age

Comparing the age profile of leavers to the

workforce, there are variances in the 65+

group. Further analysis of leavers from the

65+ group shows that the majority left the

organisation due to (standard) retirement,

which is expected within this age group.

Disability

Disability data is known for

41.32% of those who left the

organisation (157 people). The

data does not indicate any

Table 9: Leavers by disability

Disability Total %No 151 96.18Yes 6 3.82Total (data known) 157

Table 8: Leavers by age

Total %Under 25 26 6.84 25-49 194 51.3250-64 122 32.1065+ 38 10.00Total 380 100

18

Table 10: Leavers by ethnicity

Ethnic Group No. %Asian or Asian British 30 8.98Black or Black British 27 8.08Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups 14 4.19Arab or other ethnic group 2 0.60White 261 78.14Total (data known) 334 100

significant issues.

Ethnicity

Ethnicity data is known for 87.89%

of those who left the organisation

(334 people). The split of leavers is

relative to the workforce profile in

percentage terms. There are no

concerns highlighted from this

data.

Marriage and Civil Partnership

Data on marital status is known for 44.74% of those who left the organisation

(170 people). Comparing the marital status of leavers to the workforce there is

a variance of more than 5% for the married and single categories, with more

single employees leaving. Further analysis of the single category has not

been carried out as only people who are married or are in a civil partnership

are protected against discrimination under this protected characteristic.

Religion and Belief

Religion and belief data is known for

46.05% of those who left the

organisation (175 people). The

religious and belief split of leavers is

relative to the workforce profile in

percentage terms. There are no

concerns highlighted from this data.

Sex

The gender split of leavers is relative to

the workforce profile in percentage

terms. There are no concerns

highlighted from this data.

Sexual orientation

Data on sexual orientation is known for 48.16% of those who left the

organisation (183 individuals). The split of leavers is relative to the workforce

profile in percentage terms. There are no concerns highlighted from this data.

Table 11: Leavers by religion and belief

Total %Christian 103 57.86Buddhist 1 0.56Hindu 0 0.00Jewish 1 0.56Muslim 6 3.37Sikh 9 5.06Other religion 3 1.68No religion 55 30.90Total (data known) 178 100

Table 12: Leaver by sex

Total %Female 255 67.10Male 125 32.89Total 380 100

19

Disciplinary and Grievances During the reporting period the Council dealt with 46 disciplinary cases and 21

grievances. The following tables show the equality information for these

cases. Caution should be taken in interpreting this data; due to the relatively

small numbers it may not yield meaningful findings.

Disciplinary Cases (46*)

Sex Ethnicity Male 34 White British 19Female 12 White Other 2 Black/Black British -

African 1

Undisclosed 24 Age Range Disability Under 25 6 Yes 025 - 49 24 No 950 - 64 12 Undisclosed 3765+ 4

Marital Status Religion Married 9 Christian 5Single 4 No religion 1Undisclosed 33 Undisclosed 40

Sexual Orientation Heterosexual 7 Undisclosed 39

*This includes all employees who have been subject to disciplinary investigation regardless of the outcome. Grievance Cases (21)

Sex Ethnicity Male 7 White British 15Female 14 Other Ethnic Group 1 Black/black British-

African 2

Black/black British- Caribbean

1

White other 1 Undisclosed 1

Age Range Disability Under 25 0 No 625 - 49 6 Yes 150 - 64 14 Undisclosed 1465+ 1

20

Marital Status Religion Married 8 Christian 5

Single 3 No religion 2Divorced 1 Undisclosed 14Undisclosed 9

Sexual Orientation Heterosexual 7 Undisclosed 14

Age

Most disciplinary cases (52.17%) concerned employees in the age group 25

to 49 which is in proportion to this age group who make up 51.76% of the

Council’s workforce.

When compared to the overall workforce, there are more employees aged

under 25 who have been subject to disciplinary investigations; this age group

make up 7.08% of the workforce and have been subject to 13.04% of all

disciplinary investigations. In comparison, employees aged 50-64 make up

36.20% of the workforce and have been subject to 26.09% of all disciplinary

investigations. Employees in this age group also disproportionately raised the

majority of all grievances (66.67%).

Ethnicity

Based on employees who disclosed their ethnicity, a slightly higher

percentage of employees who are White British have been subject to

disciplinary investigations; this ethnic group make up 80.2% of the workforce

and have been subject to 86.36% of all disciplinary investigations.

A higher percentage of employees who are Black or Black British raised

grievances; this ethnic group make up 4.81% of the overall workforce and

raised 14.29% of all grievances.

Sex

Despite the largest proportion of Bedford Borough Council’s staff being female

(65.28%), most disciplinary cases (73.91%) involved male employees. Most

grievances (66.67%) were raised by females.

Due to a large number of individuals with undisclosed disability status, marital

status, religion and sexual orientation, these protected characteristics cannot

be effectively analysed for trends.

21

Pay Pay Analysis: Sex and Ethnicity

Scope and methodology

This pay analysis was carried out in relation to all 2035 full-time and part-time

non-school based employees who were in the Council’s employment on 31st

March 2015. Casual workers engaged at that date have not been included.

The analysis was conducted in terms of sex and ethnicity respectively (see

Appendix E).

The gender pay gap information shows the percentage difference between

male employees’ basic full-time equivalent salaries and that of female

employees. The ethnicity pay gap information shows the percentage

difference between the basic full-time equivalent salaries of White British

employees and that of Ethnic Minority employees (i.e. employees who are not

White British).

Both the mean25 and median26 were used to calculate the pay gap. The

Office of National Statistics (ONS) uses the median as it is seen as a better

mathematical mid-point, whereas the Equality & Human Rights Commission

(EHRC) states the median underplays the size of the pay gap at the top end

so prefers the use of the mean. The pay gap calculation is as set out below:

(A ÷ B) x 100 = x

100 – x = Pay gap

A = female/ ethnic minority employees and B = male/ White British employees

In identifying pay gaps the EHRC advises that any difference of 5% or more

(based on the mean) or any patterns of differences of 3% or more, be

investigated.

Pay levels

25 The mean (average) is calculated by adding each employee’s pay and dividing by the number of employees. 26 The median is the pay rate received by the employee in the middle of the pay distribution, i.e. half of employees earn above the median employee and half earn below.

22

For the purpose of the pay analysis, all 2035 employees were allocated to one

of the below six pay levels based on their basic full-time equivalent (FTE)

salary.

Pay Level Minimum Maximum

Operational/ Support 1 £15,206

Operational/ Support 2 £15,207 £22,936

Technical Professional £22,937 £35,661

Senior Professional £35,662 £44,234

Principal Professional £46,235 £78,845

Senior Management £78,846 £152,999

Living Wage allowance

Bedford Borough Council introduced the discretionary Living Wage Allowance

in February 2014. The Council’s grading structure has remained unaffected

with the allowance paid to cover the balance between the employee’s basic

pay rate and the Living Wage.

The Living Wage allowance is paid to eligible employees in the Operational

Support level 1. Where the Living Wage was applied at 31 March 2015 it was

based on an hourly rate of £7.85 which equates to an annual full-time salary

of £15,145. Eligible employees with full-time equivalent salaries below this

amount received an allowance to make this up. The payment of the Living

Wage allowance eradicates the median pay gap (0%) at this level. As some

employees at this pay level, such as apprentices, are not eligible for the Living

Wage Allowance, the mean pay shows a difference of 2.87% and this is in

favour of females.

Analysis of the gender pay gap

Males account for 34.59% (704) of the employees within the scope of the pay

analyses, whilst the figure for female employees is 65.41% (1331 employees).

Median

The Council’s gender pay gap of 9.24% for all employees based on the

median is significantly lower than the national gender pay gap for all

employees (part-time and full-time combined) which was 19.2% in 2015

23

based on the provisional results of the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings

(ASHE)27 published by the ONS.

Mean

Based on the mean average, the Council’s gender pay gap is 14.83%.

Further analysis of the mean gender pay gap reveals the Council has pay

gaps at two different pay levels within the workforce:

Principal Professional/ Management

Senior Management

Principal Professional / Management

108 employees (5.31% of the workforce) are employed at Principal

Professional / Management level, which covers grades 14 – 16 or equivalent.

The Council has a median pay gap of 4.69% favouring men at Principal

Professional / Management level. The pay gap increases to 5.40% in favour

of men when based on the mean average of FTE salary.

54.63% all employees within this group are male and 45.37% are female.

More female than male employees, are paid at the lowest level which is grade

14 or equivalent.

The majority of female employees within this group (59.18%) are paid at

grade 14 or equivalent, with 40.82% in total paid at grades 15 and 16 or

equivalent. In comparison, 49.15% of male employees within this group are

paid at grade 14 or equivalent, and 50.85% in total of male employees are

paid at grades 15 and 16 or equivalent.

A high number of social work team managers and education improvement /

special needs professionals, which are predominantly female professions, are

found at grade 14. Furthermore, the Council has 22 Head of Service posts

which are paid at Grade 15 or 16. Of these, 16 (72.73%) are male employees

and 6 (27.27%) are female employees.

Senior Management

27 http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/ashe/annual-survey-of-hours-and-earnings/2015-provisional-results/stb-ashe.html

24

16 employees (0.79% of the workforce) are employed at Senior Management

level, which covers grade 17 and above or equivalent. Of these, 12 (75.00%)

are male and 4 (25.00%) are female.

Based on the median, the Council has a pay gap of 7.06% at Senior

Management level in favour of men. This widens to 11.04% when based on

the mean average of FTE salary. The difference between the median and

mean pay gap is due to the small number of females in this category.

It should be noted that a number of females in posts at Senior Management

level were transferred into Bedford Borough Council under the Transfer of

Undertaking (Protections of Employment) Regulations (TUPE). Salaries of

staff transferred under TUPE are protected and not on Bedford Borough

Council pay scales, this impacts on the figures at this level.

Gender pay gap in comparison to 2013-14

The Council’s gender pay gap has widened slightly by approximately 3%

since 2013-14. At 31 March 2014, the Council had a gender pay gap of 6.27%

(median) or 11.39% if based on the mean average FTE salary. This increased

to 9.24% (median) or 14.83% (mean) at 31 March 2015.

Operational Support level 2

At 31 March 2014, the Council had a pay gap of 11.45% in favour of women

at Operational / Support level 2, which covers grades 4 – 7 or equivalent. This

decreased to 3.35% in favour of women when based on the mean average

FTE salary. At 31 March 2015, the median pay gap had changed to 3.60% in

favour of men. Within this group there is now a higher percentage of women

at grade 4 or equivalent. This change may be attributed to the transfer of

BUPA care homes into the Council where a large percentage of the

employees were female care assistants at the lowest pay grade within the

Operational Support level 2 pay level.

Principle Professional / Management

At 31 March 2014, the Council had a pay gap of 8.33% (median) in favour of

men at Principal Professional / Management level. At 31 March 2015, this

decreased to 4.69% (median). Within this group, more female employees are

now paid at the higher grades 15 -16 or equivalent.

Senior Management

25


women at Senior Management level, and a pay gap of 8.92% in favour of

male employees when based on the mean average FTE salary. At 31 March

2015, the median pay gap had changed to 7.06% in favour of men. This

change is because the average median salary for female employees at this

level has decreased. However, it must be noted that the small number of

female employees overall at this level means any changes to staff, i.e.

employees leaving or joining the organisation, are more prominent when

using the median average.

The Council’s gender pay gap analysis indicates that:

The Council’s gender pay gap has widened slightly by

approximately 3% since 2013-14

Female employees are over-represented at the lower grades

within job levels

There is a lack of female employees in senior management roles

Analysis of the ethnic pay gap

White British employees make up 79.61% (1480 employees) and ethnic

minority employees 20.39% (379 employees) of Council employees within the

scope of this analysis who disclosed their ethnicity. It has to be noted that the

analysis of the ethnicity pay gap may be marginally affected by the lack of

data held with 176 employees (8.65%) not having disclosed their ethnicity.

Median

The Council has an ethnic pay gap of 16.69% for all employees based on the

average median FTE salary.

Mean

Based on the mean average, the Council’s ethnic pay gap is 15.32%. The

analysis of the ethnicity pay gap has used the same approach of investigating

any differences of 5% or more based on the mean. Further analysis of the

mean ethnic pay gap reveals the Council has pay gaps at three different

levels within the workforce:

Operational / Support level 2

Technical Professional

Senior Management

26

Operational / Support (2)

The Council has a mean pay gap of 19.25% in favour of White British

employees at Operational / Support level 2, which covers grades 4 – 7 or

equivalent. The pay gap decreases to 6.94% in favour of White British

employees when based on the mean average of FTE salary.

75.48% of employees at Operational / Support level (2) are White British and

24.52% are ethnic minority employees. 27.71% of White British employees at

this level are paid at grade 4 or equivalent, in comparison to 51.96% of ethnic

minority employees.

The analysis has shown that nearly three-quarters of posts at grade 4

(71.19%) are care-related jobs. Of these, the majority (89.05%) are held by

female employees, of which a significant percentage (40.64%) is from an

ethnic minority background.

Technical / Professional

The Council has a pay gap of 5.65% in favour of White British employees at

Technical / Professional level, which covers grades 8 - 11 or equivalent. The

pay gap decreases to 1.21% in favour of White British employees when based

on the mean average of FTE salary.

85.47% of employees at Technical / Professional level are White British and

14.53% % are ethnic minority employees. 21.11% of White British employees

within this group are paid at grade 10 or equivalent, in comparison to 13.68%

of ethnic minority employees, which may contribute to the overall pay gap at

this level. The analysis has shown that posts held by ethnic minority

employees at grades 9 and 10 are mostly social work and IT support.

Senior Management

The Council has a pay gap of 14.13% in favour of White British employees at

Senior Management level which covers grade 17 and above or equivalent.

The pay gap increases to 17.24% in favour of White British employees when

based on the mean average of FTE salary.

Only one of the employees who disclosed their ethnicity at Senior

Management level is from an ethnic minority background. It has to be taken

into account that 4 (25%) of employees at this level has not disclosed their

27

ethnicity and this, considering the small numbers of staff at this level, may

impact on the figures.

Ethnic pay gap in comparison to 2013-14

The Council’s ethnic pay gap has widened slightly by approximately 4% since

2013-14. At 31 March 2014, the Council had an ethnic pay gap of 12.69%

(median) or 13.18% if based on the mean average FTE salary.

Operational / Support (2)

At 31 March 2014, the Council had a pay gap of 11.99% in favour of White

British employees at Operational / Support level 2. This decreased to 5.23%

in favour of White British employees when based on the mean average FTE

salary. At 31 March 2015, the median pay gap had widened to 19.25% in

favour of White British employees. Within this group there has been an

increase of nearly 100 employees since 31 March 2014. This has resulted in a

slight percentage increase of ethnic minority employees, more of which are

employed at the lowest grade within this level. This may be explained by the

TUPE transfer of BUPA staff into the Council.

Technical / Professional


White British employees at Technical / Professional level. At 31 March 2015,

the median pay gap had widened to 5.65% in favour of White British

employees.

Principal Professional

At 31 March 2014, the Council had a median pay gap of 4.47% in favour of

ethnic minority employees at Principal Professional / Management level and a

mean pay gap of 1.5% in favour of White British employees. At 31 March

2015, the median pay gap had changed to 1.35% in favour of White British

employees. Within this group there has been a slight decrease in the number

of employees, resulting in a small percentage increase of ethnic minority

employees. The low numbers involved in this change, may mean any minor

differences in pay since 31 March 2014 could disproportionately affect the

median average.

Senior Management

At 31 March 2014, the Council had a pay gap of 22.39% in favour of White

British employees at Senior Management level when based on the mean

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average FTE salary. At 31 March 2015, the mean pay gap had reduced to

17.24% in favour of White British employees. Within this small group, this is

likely due to changes in employment, as the total number of senior

management employees has decreased.

The Council’s ethnic pay gap analysis indicates that:

The Council’s ethnic pay gap has widened slightly by

approximately 4% since 2013-14

Female ethnic minority employees are over-represented at the

lower grades at Operational / Support level 2

There is a lack of ethnic minority employees in senior

management roles

What we have done to address the Council’s gender and ethnic pay

gaps

The 2013-14 pay analysis indicated the following contributing factors to the

gender and ethnic pay gaps:

Female employees are over-represented at the lower grades within job

levels

A lack of female employees in senior management roles

Female ethnic minority employees are over-represented at the lower

grades at Operational / Support level 2

A lack of ethnic minority employees in senior management roles

The Council identified a number of actions to address the factors contributing

to the gender and ethnic pay gaps. Progress on these actions are outlined in

Appendix B.

What we will do to address the Council’s gender and ethnic pay gaps:

To encourage more job applications from individuals with protected

characteristics, the Council will use existing partnerships with local

voluntary and community sector organisations working with diverse

communities to promote recruitment opportunities.

To address any potential bias affecting the recruitment process, the

Council will introduce training to address unconscious bias amongst

recruiting managers.

In 2014-15 the Government continued to work in partnership to

promote cultural change, modernise workplaces and encourage

29

businesses to remove barriers to women’s progression. This included

extending flexible working to all employees and introducing shared

parental leave. The Council will monitor the uptake of these initiatives

and look at promoting these to the workforce.

Analysis of the disability pay gap

An analysis has been undertaken in respect of the disability pay gap for the

2035 employees. As only 918 employees (45.11%) declared their disability

status there was no opportunity to identify clear patterns. Out of this group 72

employees declared themselves disabled. From the analysis undertaken there

is an overall pay gap in favour of non-disabled employees of 1.29% based on

the mean and 6.14% based on the median.

Top 5% of earners

In addition to the gender, ethnicity and disability pay analyses for the Council

as a whole, we have explored workforce data for the top 5% of Council

earners (see Appendix F). This relates to 101 employees employed at 31st

March 2015.

As with the overall workforce, known data for the top 5% of earners is limited,

particularly in regards to disability, marital status (marriage and civil

partnership), religion and belief and sexual orientation.

The known data indicates an overrepresentation of employees who are

Christian and employees who are heterosexual. However, due to limited

information it is not possible to statistically conclude whether these indications

are valid.

Bedford Borough Council had the following Human Resources targets in

regards to the top 5% of earners for 2014-15:

Disability 6%

Ethnic minorities 7%

Females 34%

The data set used for this report shows that the targets set for 2014/2015 in

regards to disability, ethnicity and sex within the top 5% earners had been

met.

30

What we will do to improve equality outcomes

We will break down age data for 25-49 year olds by smaller age groups in

the next workforce report to better understand any underrepresentation at

top 5% level.

We will increase the top 5% of earners who self report on their protected

characteristics to have more robust data.

We will review the Human Resources targets for to the top 5% of earners

in regards to disability, ethnicity and sex to better reflect the local

population of Bedford Borough.

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Policies and Initiatives Two Ticks The Council has been awarded the Jobcentre Plus ‘two ticks’ disability

employer status. The status demonstrates that we are positive about

employing people with disabilities and as such we have made five

commitments regarding recruitment, training, retention, consultation and

disability awareness.28

HR Policies addressing equality issues

The Council has a number of HR policies providing support over all aspects of

employment law, employee relations and recruitment.29 The following policies

and guides explicitly address issues relevant to the Council’s public sector

equality duty responsibilities (See Appendix G):

Sickness Absence Policy and Manager’s Guide

Recruitment Policy

Flexible Working Guidelines

Maternity/Adoption Guidance and Support Leave

Paternity and Parental Leave Guidance

Redundancy Procedure and Guidelines

Domestic Abuse Support Guidelines

Mobile Working Policy

Bullying and Harassment Guidance

Shared Parental Leave Policy and Guidance

28 These commitments are to: 1. Interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for a job vacancy and to consider them on their abilities; 2. Discuss with disabled employees, at any time but at least once a year, what both parties can do to make sure disabled employees can develop and use their abilities; 3. Make every effort when employees become disabled to make sure they stay in employment; 4. Take action to ensure that all employees develop the appropriate level of disability awareness needed to make these commitments work; 5. Review these commitments each year and assess what has been achieved, plan ways to improve on them and let employees and Jobcentre Plus know about progress and future plans. 29 All new HR policies are subject to an equality analysis. These can be viewed on the Council’s equality analysis pages at: www.bedford.gov.uk/equality

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Table 13: Training accessed by age

Age Number %Under 25 89 3.125-49 1489 52.250-64 1157 40.565+ 119 4.2Total 2854 100

Table 14: Training accessed by disability

Disability Number %No 1375 95.0Yes 72 5.0Total data known 1447 100

Table 16: Training accessed by sex

Sex Number %Male 648 22.7Female 2206 77.3

Table 15: Training accessed by ethnicity

Ethnic Group No. %White British 2229 76.4White Irish or White Other 137 5.0Asian or Asian British 216 7.9Black or Black British 184 6.7Chinese 10 0.4Mixed / Multiple ethnic groups 75 2.7Arab or other ethnic group 23 0.8Total data known 2854 *100

Training During April 2014 – March 2015 285430 individuals accessed over 150

different training courses managed through the Learning and Development

team.31 These courses include corporate training, Health and Safety training,

Children’s Services social care training and Adult Services social care

training.

Age

When compared to the overall workforce,

there are slightly less individuals aged

under 25 who are accessing training.

However this variance is less than 5%

and so is not considered significant at this

point.

Disability

Disability data for individuals accessing

training is relative to the workforce profile

in percentage terms. There are no

concerns highlighted from this data.

Ethnicity

When compared to the overall

workforce, there are slightly less

individuals from White British

background who are accessing

training. However this variance is

less than 5% and so is not

considered significant at this point.

Sex

When compared to the overall

workforce, there are more female

members of staff accessing training.

30 This number counts a member of staff multiple times each time they access a training course. Consequently the total number of staff trained is more than the Council headcount. 31 These figures do not include departmental training that is organised and recorded by individual directorates. *Due to rounding percentage figures may not add up to 100%

33

Female staff members make up 65.28% of the workforce and access

approximately three quarters (77%) of all training opportunities. Further

examination of the courses accessed by female staff members show these

are predominantly courses for Adult Services and Children’s Services and are

likely for social workers and care workers, which are predominantly female

professions. The higher percentage of female staff members accessing

training likely reflects this trend. It must be noted that male staff members may

be accessing training not managed through the Learning and Development

team and for which records are held by individual directorates.

Sexual orientation

Sexual orientation data for individuals accessing training is relative to the

workforce profile in percentage terms. There are no concerns highlighted from

the data.

Religion and Belief

Religion and Belief data for individuals accessing training is relative to the

workforce profile in percentage terms. There are no concerns highlighted from

the data.

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Concluding statement The Council recognises that a workforce made up of employees from diverse backgrounds enhances our ability to meet the differing cultural needs of our customers. If our workforce closely reflects the diversity of our communities, we have a better chance of understanding the issues faced by individuals and groups within the community and adding value to the services we provide. The data contained in this report and its appendices clearly demonstrates the Council’s continued commitment to achieving the equality objectives relating to our role as an employer. We continue to focus on improving our workforce data in order to identify underrepresented groups in the workforce and develop strategies to address barriers to employment. Our employment polices demonstrate our commitment to the principals of equality, whilst organisational development initiatives promote equality in the workplace and through the delivery of services. The development of our HR system has improved reporting levels of equalities data relating to our workforce. However, we acknowledge that we need to do more to encourage the reporting of equality information, particularly around disability, religion and belief and sexual orientation, and that we need to upgrade the HR system to enable the recording of gender reassignment. We will break down our age data by smaller groups, and then by sex and ethnicity to better identify trends. We will increase targets for the percentage of employees with a disability and from ethnic minority backgrounds incrementally in 2016-17 and 2017-18. In order to ensure our recruitment process is robust, we will monitor recruitment trends by smaller age groups and carry out regular sample checks on applications from ethnic minority applicants who are not shortlisted. We will explore how we can increase the diversity of shortlisting panels and provide refresher training for managers involved in recruitment. We will include training on recognising unconscious bias as part of the recruitment and selection training. We will encourage applications from underrepresented groups on our internet vacancies page. We will address the gender and ethnic pay gaps identified in this report by promoting job opportunities through voluntary and community sector organisations working with diverse communities. We will promote and monitor the uptake of our flexible working policies to remove barriers to career progression for female employees. For our senior employees, we will break down age data by smaller groups to better understand any underrepresentation, encourage self-reporting of protected characteristics and review the HR targets for representation of females, those with a disability and from ethnic minority backgrounds, in order to better reflect the local population. Progress against our objectives will be reported in our next Workforce Equality Report for 2015 – 2016.

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36

Equality objective

Action Progress and future actions required Lead Officer

To improve workforce data and address barriers to employment for equality groups underrepresented in the workforce.

Publish annual workforce equality report to meet specific equality duty

Reports are published in January each year. The equality categories held on the system have been updated to reflect the 2011 Census categories. During 2015, all employees were requested to update their equality information held on MyView. Employees without email login access and unable to access MyView were sent a hard paper form to complete and return. 622 paper forms were issued and 262 have been returned and equality data put onto the system. Data is now held for more employees and reporting will be more meaningful.

Head of HR

Develop communications and support campaign to improve staff self reporting of disabilities

A communications campaign to encourage reporting of disabilities took place in 2013. The Head of HR met with a number of disabled employees on a confidential basis to learn about their experience of the Council as an employer of people with disabilities. The feedback has been generally positive. As part of the communication campaign, window stickers promoting the Council as a ‘two tick’ positive about disability employer have been displayed in council premises. Ongoing communications remind employees to check and update their equalities data held on My View

Head of HR / Head of Communications

Capture staff equality information on gender reassignment, religion and belief and sexual orientation

The equalities information held on Resource Link now reflects the categories contained in the 2011 Census, therefore meaningful comparisons can be made between the make-up of the workforce and the local population. The system does not at this stage provide a category to record gender reassignment, but when Northgate include this as a development to the system and it is made available, a communication campaign will encourage individuals to update their equalities data through My View.

Head of HR / HR Manager (Business Services & Resourcing)

Develop clear sustainable succession planning for our

The HR system has been developed to incorporate a ‘talent management’ module, through which the Council’s Competency

Workforce Development


37

ageing workforce

Framework and PDR process operates. This module enables managers to undertake succession planning as part of that process and to identify relevant training and development activities to enable staff to develop in their role.

Manager

Monitor equality information from applicants to the Council to ensure our recruitment processes are being applied properly.

Equality information provided to the Council from applicants, who apply for posts through the Recruitment Module of Resource Link, is held in the system and system reports can be produced to breakdown applications at each stage of the recruitment process by different equality characteristics. These reports provide information to enable an analysis of recruitment activity so that any concerns regarding the treatment of particular protected characteristics can be identified.

HR Manager (Business Services & Resourcing)

Develop our HR systems to measure staff applications for and satisfaction with training against staff workforce profile

The Resource Link system holds equalities data for employees who book training through the system, and reports can be produced to identify the protected characteristics of those attending training. Further work is required to compare the profile of those attending training and measure satisfaction with training against the workforce profile.

Workforce Development Manager

To develop the culture of the Council so all employees are able to demonstrate commitment to the principles of equality in carrying out their roles, both in the workplace and in the delivery of services

Support our staff and elected representatives to understand equalities legislation and what it means for them through delivery of equality training programme

The Council has an online e-learning training package called ‘Insights into Equality’. The Learning and Development team have also produced a workbook for the Insights into Equality’ training for those who do not have access to the online system. Member Training will take place early 2016.

Head of HR / Head of Democratic & Registration Services

Implement the action plan arising from our staff surveys

The next staff survey is due to take place in 2016. Work has been undertaken by a working group tasked by the EPC (Employee Partnership Committee) to develop a Staff Experience Survey’; this included questions on equality issues. The survey was issued to staff in November 2014 and outcomes were reported back to the EPC and to Management Group in early 2015.

Head of HR / Customer Relations & Consultations Manager


38

Workforce report theme

Action Progress and future actions required Outcome

Workforce data

Upgrade our Human Resources and Payroll integrated system to collect information on gender reassignment.

The system does not at this stage provide a category to record gender reassignment. The systems provider has been informed this is required as a development to the system.

Ability to capture employee data for all protected characteristics.

Increase our known data by encouraging employees to self-report on disability, religion and belief and sexual orientation.

A communications campaign to encourage employees’ self reporting of equalities data was carried out during summer 2015. In addition, all employees without online login access were written to and encouraged to update their equality information by updating their personal details confidentially via hard copy and returning to HR.

Known equalities data for disability, religion and belief and sexual orientation has increased by 9.1%, 16.3% and 15.5% respectively.

Break down age data by smaller age groups, and then by sex and ethnicity in the next workforce report to better identify trends.

To be carried out for 2015-16 Workforce Equality report.

Recruitment Break down age data by smaller age groups in the next workforce report to better identify any recruitment trends.


Carry out quarterly sample checks on applications from ethnic minority applicants who are not shortlisted for interview to identify any trends at short-listing stage.

Action to be reviewed due to resources.

Include training on recognising and addressing unconscious bias as part of

Initial discussions have taken place with a potential training provider. A decision is


39

the recruitment and selection training. required as to whether the training can be delivered through online provision.

Undertake a refresher training programme for those involved in recruitment.

Recruitment & Selection Refresher Course has been included as part of the corporate training programme for employees who has previously attended a recruitment and selection training course but requires an update on policies and procedures. Equality within recruitment is included as part of this course.

One Recruitment & Selection Refresher course has been delivered.

Explore how we can increase the diversity of short-listing and interview panel members.

Going forward the recruitment team will look at the composition mix of interview panela and liaise with the Chair of the panel to see if other knowledgeable officers that can help make the panel more diverse can be involved. We will log the protected characteristics of panel members, to help provide more visibility.

Pay Gap Word advertisements to reflect a desire to attract applications from the under-represented groups for posts with an historical gender / ethnicity pay imbalance.

Wording has been drafted for inclusion in advertisements from April 2016

Target individuals from under-represented groups where job fairs are used.

To be carried forward.

Target female apprenticeship placements for placements in male dominated areas within the Council Apprenticeship

A review of the Council Apprenticeship Programme has identified the need for a wider range of partner providers. Additional


40

Programme. providers will result in a wider pool of applicants to support the apprenticeship application process.

Advertise all posts as available on a flexible basis by default, except where there is a clear business case against this.


Disaggregate gender pay gap by age to investigate whether female employers are experiencing disadvantage in pay as a result of childcare responsibilities.


Undertake an equal pay audit


Explore how we can increase the opportunities for flexible and part-time working for women at senior level.


Top 5% Earners Break down age data for 25-49 year olds by smaller age groups in the next workforce report to better understand any underrepresentation at top 5% level.


Increase the top 5% of earners who self report on their protected characteristics.

Employees within the top 5% of earners were included in the communications campaign to encourage employees’ self reporting of equalities data was carried out during summer 2015.

The campaign does not appear to have been as effective with this cohort of employees, with the percentage of known equalities data increasing slightly for disability, ethnicity and religion and belief but decreasing for marriage and civil partnership and sexual orientation.

Appendix C: Workforce by ethnicity

41

Ethnic Group Ethnic Group

Category Bedford Borough (Total Population)

% Bedford Borough (18 64years)

% Council

%

White English/Welsh/Scottish/ Northern Irish/British

112,588 71.5 68,504 70.8 1649 80.2

Irish 1,683 1.1 1,007 1.0 26 1.3Gypsy or Irish Traveller 115 0.1 83 0.1 0 0.0Other White 12,460 7.9 8,719 9.0 96 4.7

Total 78,313 81.0 1771 86.1Mixed/multiple ethnic groups

White/Black Caribbean 2,396 1.5 986 1.0 12 0.6White/Black African 587 0.4 236 0.2 2 0.1White/Asian 1,366 0.9 492 0.5 7 0.3Other Mixed 1,037 0.7 466 0.5 15 0.7

Total 2,180 2.3 36 1.8Asian or Asian British

Indian 8,122 5.2 5,575 5.8 99 4.8Pakistani 3,270 2.1 1,961 2.0 13 0.6Bangladeshi 3,225 2.0 1,704 1.8 11 0.5Chinese 905 0.6 647 0.7 6 0.3Other Asian 2,410 1.5 1,502 1.6 7 0.3

Total 11,389 11.8 136 6.6Black or Black British

Black African 2,741 1.7 1,836 1.9 41 2.0Black Caribbean 2,843 1.8 1,861 1.9 54 2.6Other Black 618 0.4 378 0.4 4 0.2

Total 4,075 4.2 99 4.8Arab or Other Ethnic Group

Arab 331 0.2 250 0.3 0 0.0Other Ethnic Group 782 0.5 529 0.5 15 0.7

Total 157,479 100 96,736 100 2057 *100.0 Source: 2011 Census, ONS. 2012. * Figures have been rounded so may not total 100%


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Age Total

applications %

Applications shortlisted

% Starters %

Under 25 163 15.0 86 16.8 39 17.0 25-49 646 59.5 289 56.45 121 52.7 50-64 263 24.2 128 25.0 64 27.8 65+ 13 1.2 9 1.8 6 2.6 Total 1085 100 512 100 230 100

Disability Total

applications %


% Starters %

No 883 93.6 414 92.6 178 91.3 Yes 60 6.4 33 7.4 17 8.7 Total 943 100 447 100 195 100

Ethnicity Total

applications %


% Starters %

White 692 70.4 355 77.2 163 81.1 White Irish 5 0.5 4 0.9 0 0.0 White Other White 40 4.0 19 4.1 13 6.5 Mixed /multiple ethnic groups 48 4.9 15 3.3 6 3.0 Asian or Asian British 91 9.3 29 6.3 6 3.0 Black or Black British 89 9.0 34 7.4 11 5.8 Arab or Other Ethnic Group 18 1.8 4 0.9 2 1.0 Total 983 100 460 100 201 100 NB: Percentages have been rounded and may not total 100%


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Religion Total

applications %


% Starters %

Buddhist 5 0.6 5 1.2 1 0.6 Christian 469 52.3 228 53.9 111 62.4 Hindu 14 1.6 4 0.9 0 0.0 Jewish 1 0.1 0 0.0 0 0.0 Muslim 39 4.3 16 3.8 2 1.1 No Religion 324 36.1 157 37.1 61 34.3 Other 19 2.1 6 1.4 2 1.1 Sikh 26 2.9 7 1.6 1 0.6 Total 897 100 423 100 178 100

Sex Total

applications %


% Starters %

Female 684 58.5 308 57.4 136 59.1 Male 486 41.5 229 42.6 94 40.9 Total 1170 100 537 100 230 100 NB: Percentages have been rounded and may not total 100%

Appendix E: Pay analysis summary sex and ethnicity

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PAY SUMMARY: SEX

Level Total

number of Employees

Number of Male Employees

Number of Female Employees

Lowest FTE Salary Paid Highest FTE Salary paid

Male Employee

Female Employee

Male Employee

Female Employee

Operational/ Support (1)

135 (6.63%)

32 (23.70%)

103 (76.30%)

£9,897* £9,897* £15,145* £15,145*


932 (45.79%)

298 (31.97%)

634 (68.03%)

£15,207 £15,207 £22,409 £22,212

Technical/ Professional

698 (34.30%)

232 (33.24%)

466 (66.76%)

£22,937 £22,937 £34,746 £35,558

Senior Professional

145 (7.13%)

70 (48.28%)

75 (51.72%)

£35,662 £35,662 £45,254 £44,748


108 (5.31%)

59 (54.63%)

49 (45.37%)

£46,235 £46,235 £72,767 £72,767

Senior Management

16 (0.79%)

12 (75.00%)

4 (25%)

£87,108 £79,883 £133,575 £98,842

Chief Executive 1 (0.05%)

1 (100%)

- (0%)

£170,000

TOTAL

2035 704 (34.59%)

1331 (65.41%)

* Inclusive of Living Wage Allowance


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PAY GAP ANALYSIS SUMMARY: SEX

Level Median FTE Salary Paid Pay Gap based on Median**

Average (Mean) FTE Salary paid

Pay Gap based on Average (Mean)**

Male Employee

Female Employee

Male Employee

Female Employee


£15,145* £15,145* 0.00% £14,477* £14,893* -2.87%


£18,376 £17,714 3.60% £18,496 £18,328 0.91%


£28,746 £28,746 0.00% £28,778 £28,551 0.79%

Senior Professional

£40,217 £41,140 -2.30% £41,056 £41,154 -0.24%


£51,646 £49,224 4.69% £55,821 £52,804 5.40%

Senior Management

£93,024 £86,454 7.06% £98,815 £87,908 11.04%

Total Workforce

£24,472 £22,212 9.24% £28,657 £24,406 14.83%

* Inclusive of Living Wage Allowance ** (A÷ B) x 100 =Total

100 – Total = Pay Gap A=Females & B = Males

Lowest Data Quartile Male Employees

Female Employees

≤£17,714

≤£15,941


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PAY SUMMARY: ETHNICITY

Level Total number of Employees

UndisclosedEthnicity

White British Employees

Ethnic Minority Employees

Lowest FTE Salary Paid Highest FTE Salary paid

White British Employee

Ethnic Minority Employee

White British Employee

Ethnic Minority Employee


135 (6.63%)

13 79 (64.75%)

43 (35.25%)

£9,897* £12,907* £15,145* £15,145*


932 (45.79%)

100 628(75.48%)

204 (24.52%)

£15,207 £15,207 £22,212 £22,212


698 (34.30%)

44 559(85.47%)

95 (14.53%)

£22,937 £22,937 £35,558 £34,896

Senior Professional

145 (7.13%)

11 111(82.84%)

23 (17.16%)

£35,662 £35,662 £44,748 £44,748


108 (5.31%)

4 91(87.50%)

13 (12.50%)

£46,235 £47,7434 £72,767 £72,767

Senior Management

16 (0.79%)

4 11(91.67%)

1 (8.33%)

£87,108 £79,883 £133,575 £79,883

Chief Executive 1 (0.05%)

- 1(100%)

- £170,000

TOTAL 2035 176 1480(79.61%)

379 (20.39%)

*Inclusive of Living Wage Allowance


47

PAY GAP ANALYSIS SUMMARY: ETHNICITY

Level Median FTE Salary Paid Pay Gap based on Median**

Average (Mean) FTE Salary paid

Pay Gap based on Average (Mean)**





Operational/ Support (1) £15,145* £15,145* 0.00% £14,938* £14,921* 0.11%

Operational/ Support (2) £19,742 £15,941 19.25% £18,728 £17,429 6.94%

Technical/ Professional £28,746 £27,123 5.65% £28,740 £28,392 1.21%

Senior Professional £40,217 £41,140 -2.30% £41,077 £40,946 0.32%


£49,224 £49,887 -1.35% £54,638 £54,433 0.38%

Senior Management £93,024 £79,883 14.13% £96,529 £79,883 17.24%

Total Workforce £23,698 £19,742 16.69% £26,872 £22,754 15.32%

*Inclusive of Living Wage Allowance** (A÷ B) x 100 =Total

100 – Total = Pay Gap A=Ethnic Minority & B = White British

Lowest Data Quartile

White British Employees Ethnic Minority Employees

≤£18,376 ≤£15,207

Appendix F: Top 5% Earners

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Age

Total number Under 25 25-49 50-64 65+

101 0 54 (53.47%) 45 (44.55%) 2 (1.98%)

Disability

Total number Unknown data

Known data Disability No Disability

101 59 42 (44.55%) 3 (7.14%) 39 (92.86%)

Ethnicity

Total number Unknown data Known data White British Employees Ethnic Minority Employees

101 6 95 (94.06%) 84 (88.42%) 11 (11.58%)

Marital status

Total number Unknown data Known data Married Divorced Single

101 31 70 (69.31%) 59 (84.29%) 1 (0.99%) 10 (14.72%)

Appendix F: Top 5% Earners

49

Religion and belief

Total number Unknown data

Known data Christian Hindu Muslim Sikh No Religion

101 42 59 (58.42%) 33 (55.93%) 2 (3.39%) 1 (1.69%) 1 (1.69%) 22 (37.30%)

Sex

Total number Male Female

101 63 (62.38%) 38 (37.62%)

Sexual orientation

Total number Unknown data Known data Heterosexual Gay

101 50 51 (50.50%) 49 (96.08%) 2 (3.92%)


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HR Policies

Sickness Absence Policy and Manager’s Guide The Sickness Absence Policy and Managers’ Guide ensures managers are aware of their responsibilities to support employees, through reasonable adjustments as required, to return to work after a period of sickness absence relating to their disability.

Recruitment Policy The Recruitment Policy outlines the Council’s commitment to interview all applicants with a disability who meet the minimum criteria for a job vacancy and consider them on their merits. This is in line with the Council’s ‘two ticks’ disability employer status.

Flexible Working Guidelines The Flexible Working Guidelines are produced as part of the Council’s commitment to providing flexible and family friendly working policies. The Flexible Working Guidelines outline an employee’s legal right to apply for flexible working. It also outlines a manager’s responsibility to consider applications for flexible working seriously.

Maternity/Adoption Guidance and Support Leave These guides ensure managers and employees are aware of and understand the Council’s maternity/adoption and support leave provisions.

Paternity and Parental Leave Guidance These guides ensure manager and employees are aware of and understand the Council’s paternity and parental leave provisions.

Redundancy Procedure and Guidelines The Redundancy Procedure ensures that in any selection criteria: An employee’s genuine long term sickness absence must not be considered to

ensure no disadvantage to employees with a disability. Assessing experience must be based on an employee’s ability rather than the

number of years they have undertaken such activities to ensure that there is no age discrimination.

Consideration of flexibility must not be used in a way that disadvantages femaleemployees or carers who are more likely to work flexibly due to caring responsibilities.

Domestic Abuse Support Guidelines The Council acknowledges that domestic abuse can occur in all areas of society and it will treat this with the same degree of seriousness as any other form of harassment, violence or abuse and is not to be tolerated. The Council will strive to create a working environment that promotes this principle and supports those experiencing or involved in domestic abuse. Support guidelines are in place for this purpose which will ensure that any employee who is experiencing or has experienced domestic abuse can raise the issue in the knowledge that the matter will be treated sympathetically and in confidence.


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Mobile Working Policy The Council recognises the need to develop modern working practices that will create an attractive workplace where people are empowered to succeed and allowed to balance work and life demands. Mobile Working is about encouraging and supporting smarter working by allowing flexibility around how and where council employees can carry out their work. The Council has in place a policy that sets out the key elements of managing and supporting a mobile approach to work.

Bullying and Harassment Guidance The Bullying and Harassment guidance outlines the behaviour expected of Council staff and the procedures and support which are available to raise any concerns of bullying and harassment in the workplace.

Shared Parental Leave Policy and Guidance The Shared Parental Leave Policy and Guidance outlines employees’ right to take Shared Parental Leave (SPL) to care for a child due to be born, or placed for adoption, on or after 5 April 2015. SPL gives employees with caring responsibilities for babies or newly adopted children the opportunity to share up to 50 weeks’ leave should they wish to do so.

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Documents

Workforce Report Jan 2016 (2) · Workforce data on protected equality characteristics is collected and stored within an integrated Human Resources and Payroll system. The data has