B2B publisher William Reed Business Media has revealed a mean gender pay gap of 23 per cent, favouring men.
The publisher, whose titles include The Morning Advertiser, The Grocer and brands covering the retail, hospitality and pharmacy industries, said it is already making “good progress” to narrow the pay gap.
Some 52 per cent of William Reed employees are female, but they make up just 35 per cent of the top earners at the company.
The company’s gender pay report said: “We are satisfied that our gender pay gap is not a problem of unequal pay but one of under-representation of women in senior level roles.”
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William Reed also revealed a mean bonus pay gap of 28.8 per cent favouring men – although this changes to a 13 per cent gap favouring women when calculated using the median (or middle salary).
The report said: “At first glance our mean bonus gap looks high. We are however a relatively small organisation for gender pay reporting purposes and our data can be easily skewed.
“If we discount from the data the small number of shareholder related bonuses paid during the sample period then mean average bonus gap is eradicated completely.”
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Overall a higher proportion of male employees received bonuses – 56 per cent – due to there being more men than women in senior roles and therefore eligible for bonus schemes, the publisher said.
William Reed said it has launched a series of initiatives to improve the gender pay gap.
The company has already enhanced its maternity pay and will announce plans later this year to improve shared parental leave pay.
It also pledged to improve the quality of contact and support for employees on and returning from maternity leave or shared parental leave, including return programmes and mentoring schemes.
The report said: “At William Reed we are committed to achieving and sustaining a culture that is both fair and inclusive.
“Our values of ‘progressive, passionate, responsible and trusted’ are at the heart of our long established organisation.
“We strive for a supportive environment where our talented employees have the opportunity to grow their career at William Reed, regardless of gender or other characteristics.”
William Reed has a median gender pay gap of 18.5 per cent.
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