Coffey is pleased to issue its initial report on gender pay gap reporting for the year 2022, as per the reporting requirements under the Employment Equality Act 1998 (Section 20A) (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2022.
The gender pay gap is the difference in the average hourly wage of men and women across a workforce. It compares the pay of all working men and women; not just those in similar jobs, with similar working pattern or with similar competencies, qualifications, or experience.
A gender pay gap does not indicate discrimination or an absence of equal pay for equal value work – it reports a gender representation gap.
Coffey is positive towards diversity and inclusion, and implicit within our core values is to treat every employee with fairness and without discrimination in all terms of employment.
The gender imbalance in the civil engineering and construction industries is widely recognised. It is caused by lower numbers of female graduating with Civil Engineering or Construction related qualifications and entering the construction industry. Additionally, women are also underrepresented in apprenticeships. There are numerous efforts in place to address the imbalance and create a more diverse and inclusive workforce in the civil engineering and construction industries.
In Coffey, the industry imbalance is reflected in a higher proportion of men to women in certain roles which has an impact on gender pay gap reporting. Closing the gender pay gap is our long-term plan, and as such, action plans will see incremental changes over time. However, closing the gender pay gap and having greater gender balance is a sound business strategy and one that is worth the effort.
Our percentage of female employees is better than most companies in the construction sector. According to the most recent CSO figures 9% of construction employees are women, up from 8.49% since the previous data. One in 4 new jobs created went to a woman. In the construction sector 9% of senior roles are held by women.
Almost 30% of our female staff are in the upper quartile, and the percentage is in the lower quartile is reflecting the increased number of female students and graduates.
Gender Pay Snapshot
This snapshot reflects data captured between June 30, 2021, and June 30, 2022.
Our percentage of female employees is better than most companies in the construction sector. According to the most recent CSO figures, 9% of construction employees are women, up from 8.49% since the previous data. One in 4 new jobs created went to a woman. In the construction sector 9% of senior roles are held by women.
Almost 30% of our female staff are in the upper quartile, and the percentage is in the lower quartile is reflecting the increased number of female students and graduates.
Pay Gap
The pay gaps are affected by the number of women in the business and by overtime paid to site staff covered by the Construction SEO. At present we don’t have females in the Construction SEO.
More female graduates and students also contribute to the difference.
Bonus
The bonus gap is linked to start dates and the values issued.
In Coffey we have issued vouchers in advance of the Christmas period to all staff, and values are linked to if someone was in or out of their probationary period.
Bonuses are also given to members of the leadership and are directly linked to the performance of high value projects.
Benefit in Kind
BIK or Benefit in Kind refers to any non-cash benefit of monetary value provided by a company to an employee. These benefits can also be referred to as notional pay, fringe benefits or perks.
These include accommodation, award due staff suggestion schemes, company cars, company vans, healthcare insurance, subscriptions to a professional body where membership is not a requirement for the job.
The benefits have monetary value, so they must be treated as taxable income. As the majority of vehicles as assigned to site employees, it should be noted that vast majority of these employees are male.
Part-Time
More females participate in part-time arrangements than males.
The females are in the lower and lower middle quartiles. The males are in the upper quartile.
ACTION PLAN
In Coffey we are continuing to build on our strategy to promote Coffey and the Construction sector in general as an excellent career opportunity whether it is in engineering or as an apprentice.
Coffey takes and actions feedback as required from our quarterly employee surveys, results are shared with employees. We also involve employees in the company strategy, and volunteers are invited to participate in strategy workshops on themes aligned with our values. The output is reviewed by the board and actions are assigned to departments or individuals. Updates are provided by the Managing Director during his quarterly briefings.
Coffey is committed to providing equal pay for equal work without exception for every employee. We continue to ensure fairness and transparency in pay and all terms and conditions. Biannually Coffey reviews all the employment levels in the organisation to ensure consistency of reward for roles at each level, comparing men and women’s reward at each level.
In recognition of the gender gap in the construction industry, Coffey is proud to have established under our Strategic Goal of First Choice for People, Unlimited@Coffey, a group representing women from a range of disciplines and departments in the company. Unlimited@Coffey has a vision to achieve balance and equality in engineering and construction by attracting, promoting, and supporting women and equality within engineering and Coffey. The Group provides feedback to leadership and guidance on promoting engineering & construction roles as an excellent career choice for women. It is hoped that the work of this group will help to reduce the Coffey gender pay gap by increasing our female staff numbers and preparing plans to develop our female staff to maximise their position within the company.
Coffey supports family friendly practices such as hybrid working for non-site-based roles. We pay enhanced maternity pay. In 2023 we will be increasing the number of annual leave days, reducing hours worked on site, and introducing enhanced paid paternity leave. These steps will help to support our team members at every stage of the family life cycle and recognising that the modern family comes in many forms. Coffey also has an Employee Assistance Program in place and in 2023 we will be expanding our extensive training programme by introducing menopause training for employees and line managers as well as unconscious bias training.
Coffey is committed to increasing and developing female talent across the organisation including in leadership positions, despite being challenged with fewer females in the construction sector as a whole. In 2022 we introduced a formal mentoring program with participants required to attend mentor and or mentee training. We also invested in executive coaching for certain roles. We will continue to support women’s career development through providing training, paid educational assistance as well as the necessary experiences to facilitate their progression.
We will continue to participate in outreach programs in mixed schools and girls only schools in addition to having speakers in the colleges and facilitate site visits where possible. We will also continue to maximise our presence in college career fairs. We regularly review our recruitment practices to ensure that we are attracting a diverse set of candidates.
