Council to approve latest pay gap report and Workforce Race Equality Standard survey

Key findings from the pay gaps report

The figures – based on data from 31 March 2024 – show that:

• Our mean gender pay gap is 6.5 percent, a decrease from 9.6 percent
• Our mean ethnicity pay gap is 21.6 percent, which was the same in 2023
• Our mean disability pay gap is -9.4 percent, a decrease from -6.1 percent.

Meanwhile:

• Our median gender pay gap is 8.1 percent, a decrease from 14.6 percent
• Our median ethnicity pay gap is 30.9 percent, an increase from 28.8 percent
• Our median disability pay gap is -10.6 percent, a decrease from -7.8 percent.

The mean pay gap is the average difference in pay, calculated by adding all salaries and dividing that by the number of employees. The median pay gap is the difference in pay between the person in the middle of the pay range for each group.

The gender, ethnicity and disability pay differences that exist at the NMC aren’t due to the organisation paying people with certain protected characteristics more than people with other protected characteristics for the exact same work.

The differences in average pay are due to where people are on our pay scales. When we report pay gaps, we look at this as pay quartiles, with colleagues divided into the upper pay quartile, upper middle pay quartile, lower middle pay quartile and lower pay quartile.

The pay gaps data is based on a snapshot in time, in this case 31 March 2024.

We publish our gender pay gap as a legal requirement – and voluntarily publish our ethnicity and disability pay gaps to demonstrate our commitment to transparency and improving in these areas.

The WRES framework measures workforce race equality, and we have been voluntarily reporting against this standard since 2020. Since then, WRES has been an important part of our equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) work, helping us understand where we need to improve.

Key findings from the WRES survey

• The number of Black, Asian and ethnic minority colleagues working at the NMC is now 40.3 percent of total employees
• People’s perceptions of equal opportunities for career progression improved for both white and Black, Asian and ethnic minority colleagues
• The likelihood of Black, Asian and ethnic minority candidates being appointed for roles and having fair opportunity in accessing non-mandatory training decreased
• During the reporting period, the make-up of the Executive Board remained the same.

Paul Rees, NMC Interim Chief Executive and Registrar, said:

“I’m pleased that there has been a decline in the mean and median gender pay gap and the fact that, on average, people with disabilities are paid more than those without a disability indicates a potential absence of bias in this regard.

“However, it is very disappointing that the median ethnicity pay gap has grown to 30.9 percent.

“In addition, it is disappointing that the likelihood of Black, Asian and ethnic minority candidates being appointed for roles and having fair opportunity in accessing non-mandatory training decreased.

“These results show how important it is that we transform the culture at the NMC, which is why we've published our culture transformation plan.

“This plan promotes a proactive approach to equality, diversity and inclusion, as well as joined up and effective leadership, values-based decision making, creating spaces of psychological safety and enjoyment at work.

“The culture plan will also dovetail with our EDI plan and our People plan and bring together all the work we’ve been doing in these areas in one place.”

Further information

Read the full pay gaps report and Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) survey in our Council papers

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