The TUC advocates that:
The TUC is not required to publish our gender pay gap, as we have fewer than 250 employees. However we choose to publish both our gender and our ethnicity pay gaps.
The TUC’s pay system covers grades ranging from manual to managerial levels. Grades have been fully job evaluated in accordance with equal pay principles. All jobs are allocated to the relevant grade according to the level of responsibility and skills required in the role. Most grades have three pay points and staff are expected to move through these with length of service. The TUC does not pay bonus pay.
Comparison of mean pay at the TUC shows that there is a gap of 4.7 per cent between men and women’s pay at April 2023. Comparison of median pay shows that there is a gap of 10.2 per cent in favour of men.
The gap has increased over the year. This relates in part to turnover of female staff in the highest grades and recruitment of women at the lowest grades, depressing women’s pay. We think this will have a temporary effect.
In a small organisation, relatively small changes, can have an impact on our overall pay gap figures. We continue to keep a watchful eye on this data to make sure it does not reflect more significant underlying issues which require action.
At the TUC, 61 per cent of people in the lower pay quartile are women, as are 62 per cent in our lower middle quartile. Women make up 56 per cent of our upper middle quartile, and 51 per cent of our upper quartile.
Comparison of median pay at the TUC shows that there is a gap of 12.1 per cent between white and BME staff pay at April 2023, similar to last year. Comparison of mean pay shows a gap of 7.5 per cent in favour of white staff, a welcome reduction from last year. At the TUC, 41 per cent of people in the lower pay quartile are BME, as are 25 per cent in our lower middle quartile. BME staff make up 32 per cent of our upper middle quartile of pay, and 23 per cent of our upper quartile.A relatively high proportion of the lowest paid quartile of our staff are BME. We directly employ staff in our cleaning, catering and support roles, rather than outsourcing them as in many organisations. These jobs are in the lowest quartile of our pay bands. Reflecting the occupational segregation experienced by BME workers across the labour market, these roles are more likely to be filled by BME staff. We are a Living Wage employer. Predominantly, more of our BME staff work in roles which attract London weighting.
We have acted to increase the number of BME staff in middle and senior roles and will continue to take action to increase the diversity of our staff in higher pay quartiles, and improve our ethnicity pay gap.
What we are doing to eradicate our pay gaps and ensure fairness for all our staff
TUC is committed to fair pay regardless of gender and race. We have taken action towards eliminating pay gaps:
In 2018, we recognised we needed to do more to make our staff profile reflect the predominantly London base of the TUC, particularly at senior grades. We set an aspiration to fill 50 per cent of recruited posts at more senior and regional levels with BME staff. As part of this work, we revised and improved our recruitment processes to support, encourage and inform BME applicants. In the year to end of June 2023, 37 per cent of our more senior and regional recruited posts were filled by BME staff. As part of our commitment to build a more inclusive TUC, we have listened to our exiting staff and continue to build a programme of activities based on these conversations and findings. In 2023 the first cohort of BME staff completed a talent development programme and we will be continuing this programme in 2024.
The TUC will continue to monitor our pay gaps and take action to ensure we are treating all our staff fairly and reflecting the diversity of trade union members.
I, Paul Nowak, General Secretary, confirm that our calculations are accurate and that our gender pay gap has been calculated in accordance with ACAS guidance.
Paul Nowak, General Secretary
To access the admin area, you will need to setup two-factor authentication (TFA).