Road transport gender pay gaps exposed

Royal_Mail_postwoman_delivering_to_house_fixed-600-width

The transport sector is guilty of paying men more than women, with nine of the top 10 companies in the MT Top 100 reporting a gender pay gap.

The deadline for reporting gender pay gaps for companies with more than 250 employees passed last week.

The outcome was a median average pay gap of 9.7% in favour of men across businesses in the UK.

While Royal Mail, the UK’s largest operator, reported that its mean average female wages were 2.1% less than the average male pay, the median average measure showed a 1.5% gap in favour of men.

Logistics consultant Kirsten Tisdale from Aricia said that in the case of gender pay gaps, reporting the median is the better indicator of a company’s performance, “as it effectively removes the effect of a small group of low-paid apprentices or a very highly-paid CEO”.

Whistl, which is placed 10th in the MT Top 100, is the exception and pays women 5.2% more on median average.

HR director Lynn Dillon said: “Whistl is pleased that we appear to have bucked the trend in the top 10 of the

MT Top 100. We are committed to ensuring that we employ the best people in the sector and that we treat our employees equally.”

The worst in the Top 10 was XPO Logistics’ Bulk division, which reported a median pay gap of 31% in favour of men.

DHL Supply Chain has a median pay gap of 12.7% to the detriment of its female employees.

A statement from the business said: “We are not complacent and will continue to seek every opportunity to further narrow the gap.”

Results from the 10 companies also reflected the lack of women in the sector, especially at board level.

Credit rating information supplier Creditsafe said that results from the whole of the transport sector were reflective of this trend.

CEO Chris Robertson told MT: “In the transport sector, it’s clear that not only is there a gender pay gap, but also a huge gulf between male and female representation on boards.

“Only 17.5% of directorships on boards in the transport sector are occupied by women, compared with 82.5% for men. It’s no wonder equal pay remains such a challenge for the industry.”