N Brown Group’s mean gender pay gap has turned out to be better than the national average, with the figure coming in at five per cent compared to 18 per cent.
Meanwhile at its JD Williams fascia, the mean gender pay gap was a bit higher at six per cent.
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N Brown Group, which also owns Jacamo and Simply Be, said that 60 per cent of its employees in England, Wales and Scotland are female.
If only part-time employees are taken into account, this proportion rises to 82 per cent.
Meanwhile, the average gender bonus gap across the company over the 12 months to April 2017 is 18 per cent, while JD Williams’ is 33 per cent.
N Brown Group defended the figures, claiming it was “not necessarily an indication of gender discrimination” as it’s not the same as equal pay.
The retailer said it was “about ensuring that men and women are paid the same for carrying out work of equal value”.
“The data measures the difference between the average earnings of all male and female employees, irrespective of their role or seniority,” N Brown Group said in a statement.
“However, we are well aware that there is still work to be done, particularly in keeping the pipeline open for women to progress to top roles.
“We continue to care about diversity and addressing the gender pay gap, however small, within our organisation.”
The news comes a month after Phase Eight defended its 65 per cent difference in gender pay, saying the figures were “misleading” as most of its shop floor staff are women while most of its head office staff are men.
The government is also preparing to implement news rules from April whereby businesses with more than 250 employees have to publish annual figures breaking down pay.
As part of the process, businesses must upload a report onto a government website, as well as their own.
The report must detail mean and median gender pay gaps, the proportion of men and women receiving a bonus, and the proportion of men and women in each quartile of the company’s pay structure.
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