Pay Equality
The gender pay gap at Bluestone is significantly lower than the national average
As an employer with more than 250 staff, we are required by law to carry out Gender Pay Reporting under the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017. This involves carrying out six calculations that show the difference between the average earnings of men and women in Bluestone. It does not involve publishing any individual employee’s data. We are required to publish the results on our own website and a government website.
The challenge in our organisation and the purpose of this legislation across the UK is to identify and eliminate any gender pay gaps where these exist. These 6 key figures are: -
- the Mean gender pay gap (ie. the average gender pay gap)
- the Median gender pay gap (ie the ‘mid-point gender pay gap)
- the Mean bonus gender pay gap;
- the Median bonus gender pay gap;
- the proportion of males and females receiving a bonus payment; and
- the number of males and females in each quartile band.
Having now completed the analysis for 2017, we are pleased to report that the gender pay gap at Bluestone is significantly lower than the national average.
Commentary
45% of Bluestone’s headcount is made up of part-time housekeeping staff, a role vital to the success of the business, but one that is held predominantly by female staff. At Bluestone, we have found that many women opt for these part-time roles because it often allows them the flexibility they might need to manage family life and their roles as working mums. In recent recruitment of Housekeepers at Bluestone, for example, 27% of applications were from males, compared to 73% from females.
Whilst we do have male employees working in Housekeeping, a very high percentage of these ‘blue-collar’ roles are filled by female employees, which is the main contributor to the gender pay gap at Bluestone which at 3.9% median, is significantly lower than the national average of 18.4%.
We will continue to review our gender balance and pay structures at Bluestone to ensure that no significant imbalance develops between men and women employees.
Neil Evans FCA
Finance Director
The gender pay gap at Bluestone National Park Resort is significantly lower than the national average, the latest figures show. “It is our strong belief that everyone should be awarded fairly for their work and have the same access to all opportunities,” said Finance Director Neil Evans.
The Office for National Statistics released data in 2017, which confirmed that the median gender pay gap for all workers is 18.4% in favour of males. Although at Bluestone the median gender pay gap figure displays a positive result, it is significantly lower than the national average at only 3.9%.
Mr. Evans added: “The biggest department at Bluestone is the housekeeping team; in fact, it makes up 50% of our workforce, 88% of whom are female. We recently held a Housekeeping recruitment day, 27% of applications were from males, and 73% were from females.
Due to the nature of our business, these roles are mainly 11-hour contracts; however, there are a number of full-time positions within the department. We pride ourselves on developing our staff so there are many promotion routes within the company, in the last 3 years we have made over 180 internal promotions. These part-time contracts provide the perfect starting step into a career at Bluestone.”
Carla Roberts started working for Bluestone in 2009 as a housekeeping assistant during her university holidays, “Once I graduated I started working in the Sales department as a Web Processor; from there I was promoted to Sales and Reservations Executive. Later on, I was successful in becoming Team Leader within the Sales department. In 2014 I moved into HR to take up the Training Co-ordinator role. I’m really enjoying the new challenges and it’s great to have the opportunity to move across departments and grow with the business.
All staff at Bluestone receive the same benefits regardless of their contracted hours. These include exclusive accommodation deals, Blue Lagoon tickets to share with their families, a pension scheme, and life assurance. Employees also have access to our Wellbeing programme, which includes fitness classes, nutritional advice, and counseling services.
Learning and development is another key focus here at Bluestone. Our ‘Every Person Counts’ programme includes every member of staff on the resort and is key to ensuring that our staff is able to perform to the highest standard within their role. All staff is trained to their role and also within the areas of focus and culture that we promote within the company.
The commitment to our training initiatives and wellbeing focuses has seen the company named ‘Employer of the Year’ at the 2018 Wales HR Awards and earn their Gold Corporate Health Standard.