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All employers with a workforce of 250 or more must publish information on their gender pay gap every year.
Find out more about this on the Gov.uk website.
This information is based on full-pay relevant employees on a snapshot date of 31 March 2023. Full-pay relevant employees are all employees who were employed by Dorset Council on 31 March 2023 and:
The total headcount on 31 March 2023 was 4,810. For gender pay gap reporting purposes, only full-pay relevant employees are included in the calculations. This number was 4,538 which comprised:
Full time:
Part time:
Around 95% of our employees are covered by the terms and conditions for Local Government Services. This is commonly referred to as the Green Book. Most of the remainder are covered by the terms and conditions for advisory staff in children’s services (Soulbury) and those for teaching. A small number are on protected terms from previous employments.
To illustrate the make-up of the workforce, the full-time equivalent salaries for all posts have been assimilated onto the Dorset Council pay and grading structure, detailed below.
Gender split (%)
Gender |
Upper quartile |
Upper middle quartile |
Lower middle quartile |
Lower quartile |
Male |
36.12% |
32.16% |
36.12% |
39.28% |
Female |
63.88% |
67.84% |
63.88% |
60.72% |
Gender split (headcount)
Gender |
Upper quartile |
Upper middle quartile |
Lower middle quartile |
Lower quartile |
Male |
410 |
365 |
410 |
445 |
Female |
725 |
770 |
725 |
688 |
The gender pay gap shows the difference between the average (mean or median) earnings of men and women. This is expressed as a percentage of men’s earnings.
What we include
The pay gap is calculated this way:
What the result indicates:
Gap = 0.24%
Figures below from the Office of National Statistics 2023 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (provisional).
National average |
Public sector average |
South west public sector average |
13.2% |
11.5% |
12.8% |
The mean hourly pay gap of 0.24% is negligible and well below the average for public and private sector organisations. We’re committed to maintaining, or improving our gender pay gap.
Gap = -1.87%
Figures below from the Office of National Statistics 2023 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (provisional).
National average |
Public sector average |
South west public sector average |
14.3% |
14% |
14.3% |
Similarly, the median hourly pay gap of -1.87% is well below the average for public and private sector organisations.
The council does not normally pay bonuses. However, there are a very small number of individuals that transferred to our employment with protections under TUPE who do receive a bonus payment.
Out of the total workforce of 4,538, around 0.04% of employees (2 people) receive an annual bonus payment.
Mean bonus pay:
Gap = -21.03%
Median bonus pay:
Gap = -21.03%