Women remain worse off at top firms, considerably above UK average

Gender equality

Women working at the UK’s biggest contractors are paid on average 72p for every £1 that men earn, according to the latest set of gender pay gap figures.

With more than half failing to close their individual pay gap, this year’s average gender pay gap figure replicates last year’s number among the top 40 UK contractors.

The UK average gender pay gap sits at 10%, meaning women earn on average 90p for every £1 that men earn. The average for construction is 28%.

Just one firm - Taylor Wimpey - was able to report no difference at all between the average male and female hourly rate.

Skanska has seen its median gender pay gap rise by 10 percentage points since last year. Its median gender pay gap is now 22.4%.

Companies with more than 250 staff are required to publish a series of figures each year, with the latest numbers indicating a snapshot of the firm’s demographics and pay on 5 April 2018. 

The deadline for submitting information was midnight last night.

72p

When comparing median hourly rates across the top 40 contractors, women earn 72p for every £1 that men earn

Three of the five worst-performing contractors - McLaren, Bam and Multiplex - had not reported their figures as of 3pm yesterday, hours before yesterday’s midnight deadline.

The pay gap McLaren reported the second-highest rise in their gender pay gap since last year out of the top 40 contractors.

Read analysis on the gender pay gap in construction on ºÚ¶´ÉçÇø.co.uk next week

EmployerMedian pay gap % (5 April 2018)Median pay gap % (5 April 2017)Difference in median pay gap % (positive number indicates pay gap has widened)% Women in top pay quartile% Difference in bonus pay (Median)
AMEY SERVICES LIMITED 30.5 30 0.5 13 50
BALFOUR BEATTY GROUP EMPLOYMENT LIMITED 30 23 7 9 37
BAM CONSTRUCT UK LIMITED 55.2 59.6 -4.4 7.3 47.8
BARRATT DEVELOPMENTS PLC 30.7 29.6 1.1 27.6 49.9
BELLWAY HOMES LIMITED 24.8 19.7 5.1 20 22.9
BERKELEY GROUP 38.9 44.6 -5.7 12 40
BOVIS HOMES LIMITED 25.7 26.4 -0.7 29 34.5
BOWMER AND KIRKLAND LIMITED 48.4 44.6 3.8 3.4 80
CALA MANAGEMENT LIMITED 28.8 25.5 3.3 14.3 16.1
COSTAIN GROUP 24.25 31.4 -7.15 11.95 43.75
COUNTRYSIDE PROPERTIES (UK) LIMITED 33 39.7 -6.7 19 51
CREST NICHOLSON OPERATIONS LIMITED 25 23 2 18 21
ENGIE SERVICES LIMITED 23.2 21.5 1.7 27 30.7
GALLIFORD TRY EMPLOYMENT LIMITED 34.5 33.2 1.3 9.5 27.1
HOMESERVE MEMBERSHIP LIMITED 29.1 22.2 6.9 20.9 54.1
INTERSERVE CONSTRUCTION LIMITED 32 29.7 2.3 4.6 -115.8
ISG CONSTRUCTION LIMITED 34.6 40.5 -5.9 3.1 50
J. MURPHY & SONS LIMITED 23.9 23.8 0.1 7 31.3
J.S.BLOOR (SERVICES) LIMITED 25.1 28.4 -3.3 6 -270.7
KELLER LIMITED 13.2 17.1 -3.9 4 42.9
KIER LIMITED 20.5 26 -5.5 14 11.4
LAING O’ROURKE SERVICES LIMITED 10.9 8.8 2.1 9.7 6.6
LENDLEASE CONSTRUCTION (EUROPE) LIMITED 35.8 33 2.8 5 49.2
MACE LIMITED 37.2 39.9 -2.7 7 33.3
MCCARTHY & STONE MANAGEMENT SERVICES LIMITED 5.6 4.1 1.5 63.1 0
MCLAREN CONSTRUCTION LIMITED 58.4 51 7.4 2 75
MEARS LIMITED 21.8 19.8 2 8.9 56.8
MITIE LIMITED 5 31.4 -26.4 27 65
MORGAN SINDALL GROUP 32 40.5 -8.5 9 35.9
MORRISON UTILITY SERVICES LIMITED 13.1 8.2 4.9 8.6 42.4
MULTIPLEX CONSTRUCTION EUROPE LIMITED 46 47.2 -1.2 4.6 36.4
PERSIMMON HOMES LIMITED 9.8 9 0.8 15.6 2.9
REDROW HOMES LIMITED -0.8 5.2 -6 30.6 -35
SIR ROBERT MCALPINE LIMITED 32.7 30 2.7 8.4 53.3
SKANSKA CONSTRUCTION UK LIMITED 22.4 12.3 10.1 10.3 34.2
TAYLOR WIMPEY UK LIMITED 0 -2 2 32 33
VINCI CONSTRUCTION UK LIMITED 52 48.2 3.8 8.3 61.8
VOLKERWESSELS UK LIMITED 31.4 30.5 0.9 8.5 68.4
WATES GROUP SERVICES LIMITED 37.4 33 4.4 9.7 72
WILLMOTT DIXON CONSTRUCTION LIMITED 42.9 43.5 -0.6 5 51.4

Gender pay gap - outnumbered - see last year’s figures and analysis here

What is the gender pay gap?

The gender pay gap is the difference in the average hourly wage of all men and women across a workforce. It is not the same as unequal pay – paying men and women differently for the same or similar work – which has been illegal since 1970.

All businesses with more than 250 employees have a statutory obligation to publish specific gender pay gap data and bonus pay gap data, as well as the percentage of women employed in each pay quartile.

ºÚ¶´ÉçÇø has chosen to focus on the median gender pay gap, which is the middle number in a set of data, rather than the mean gender pay gap.

Some larger contractors have taken the opportunity to publish gender pay gap data for the entire group, as well as the divisions they are obliged to report on. Where possible, ºÚ¶´ÉçÇø has used the whole group data.

To represent construction, ºÚ¶´ÉçÇø has taken an average (median) of the median gender pay gap of the top 40 contractors and housebuilders in 2018, ranked by annual turnover.

Notes

Mean gender pay gap: % difference between average male and female pay - negative figure indicates female pay is higher on average

Median gender pay gap: % difference between average male and female pay - negative figure indicates female pay is higher on average

Upper quartile: % of women in the highest paid quarter of staff

Bonus: % of women receiving a bonus

Median bonus gap: % difference between average male and female bonus pay