Information about Bath Spa University Equal Pay Reviews

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) states that “an equal pay review compares the pay of male and female employees who are doing equal work and checks to see if there are any differences and inequalities”.

BSU Equal Pay Reviews aim to:

  • compare the mean pay of women and men at each grade level (doing “equal work”)
  • identify any equal pay gaps, calculated by dividing the difference between the average pay of women and men by
  • the average pay for men
  • explain and justify any gaps over the 5% threshold using objective criteria, as advised by the EHRC
  • address any gaps that cannot satisfactorily be explained
  • plan on-going monitoring.

The review is concerned with addressing unequal pay for equal work between men and women.  It does not directly address other aspects of inequality, such as inequality between other protected characteristics, but such aspects may contribute to the overall pay gaps.

The review is different to the mandatory Gender Pay Report. The gender pay gap is the difference between what men typically earn in an organisation compared to what women earn, irrespective of their role or seniority. Equal Pay is the legal requirement for men and women to be paid the same for performing the same, or like work or work that has been rated of equal value e.g. by a factor based job evaluations scheme such as HERA.

BSU’s most recent Gender Pay Gap reports can be found on the Bath Spa University website. The Gender Pay Gap shows different pay gap figures to the Equal Pay Report, as the GPG uses data from a different time period, as well as different methodology. For example, the Gender Pay Gap report includes casual workers, whereas the Equal Pay analysis does not, as casual worker pay cannot be compared on a like-for-like basis.

Equal Pay Review 2021

The University has conducted its sixth Equal Pay Review and has consulted with representatives of the recognised Trade Unions, UNISON and UCU, and Human Resources.

This Equal Pay Review showed that there has been a reduction in the percentage of men being paid more than women across the University, and the overall pay gap has decreased from 11.1% to 9.1% since 2018.