Leading online pension provider, PensionBee, has revealed a median hourly pay gap of just 4%, and a median bonus pay gap of 0% among its staff, as at December 2020. The gap is in line with PensionBee’s target of 0%, with a variance of +/- 5% owing to the overall size of the employee base.
It has achieved gender parity at all levels of its business, compared to 43% in UK financial services (1). As a member of the Women in Finance Charter, which seeks to see gender balance at all levels across financial services firms, PensionBee regularly reports publicly on female representation. The online pension provider also recognises non-binary identitiesm and has incorporated this into its regular measurement of and action on diversity and inclusion.
PensionBee’s pay gap disclosure comes two days after the Women in Finance Charter Annual Review, where it was revealed that around 3 in 10 firms had struggled to reach their 2020 targets, including some of the UK’s leading financial institutions such as the Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England (2).
Earlier this week PensionBee announced that it has signed the FinTech for All Charter, an industry-led initiative to promote diversity within the FinTech sector (3). Signatories must commit to a five-point Charter, which includes having one member of the senior executive team accountable for diversity and inclusion and providing a range of appropriate reporting channels to help employees speak up.
Recent PensionBee data highlights its strong diversity, with 16% of PensionBee employees identifying as LGBTQA+, compared to 3% across the UK. Almost 40% self-identify their racial or ethnic background as Asian/Asian British; Black, African, Caribbean, or Black British; Mixed, multiple or other ethnic groups, compared to 13% across the UK (4).
Romi Savova, CEO of PensionBee, commented: “I’m immensely proud of the level of diversity we’ve achieved within PensionBee, and have no doubt there’s a direct correlation to our low gender pay gap. We know that where a pay gap exists for women, a pension gap will follow, so we’re passionate about campaigning for wage equality.
Promoting diversity and inclusion within our team culture and hiring processes is a key focus of PensionBee, and echoes our commitment to achieving wider representation and equality in financial services. We want our team to be reflective of our customer base, and for our team to be the rule, rather than the exception in the industry. Pensions are for everyone, so the industry needs to reflect that and provide equal pay for equal work.
We decided to start reporting our pay gap voluntarily because we believe it’s important for companies to start tracking these metrics as early as possible and, if necessary, while changes are easier to make.”
Appendix
Table 1: PensionBee gender pay gap
| Pay gap | Number of employees | |
|---|---|---|
| Median hourly pay gap | 4% | 138 |
| Median bonus pay gap | 0% | 147 |
PensionBee, December 2020. Calculations are based on 147 “relevant employees” for the bonus pay gap, and 138 “full pay relevant employees” for the hourly pay gap.
Table 2: Female representation report for the Women in Finance Charter
| PensionBee Q4 2020 | |
|---|---|
| Female | 51% |
| Male | 49% |
Source: PensionBee, February 2020. Based on 150 employees.
Table 3: Diversity & Inclusion Survey: Gender at PensionBee
| PensionBee Q4 2020 | |
|---|---|
| Female and minority genders | 53% |
| Male | 38% |
| No response or Rather not say | 9% |
Source: PensionBee, February 2020. Voluntary survey, with 127 respondents. “No response or Rather not say” includes employees that did not complete the survey. The total sample size of this analysis is 150.
Table 4: Diversity & Inclusion Survey: Racial or ethnic background
| PensionBee Q4 2020 | UK^ | |
|---|---|---|
| Asian or Asian British | 9% | 8% |
| Black, African, Caribbean, or Black British | 13% | 3% |
| Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups | 13% | 2% |
| White | 54% | 86% |
| Other ethnic groups | 1% | 1% |
| No response or Rather not say | 11% | 0% |
Source: PensionBee, February 2020. Voluntary survey, with 127 respondents. “No response or Rather not say” includes employees that did not complete the survey. The total sample size of this analysis is 150. ^Data taken from the 2011 census. Numbers have been rounded.
Footnotes
- Taken from Office of National Statistics Employment by Industry dataset, (released 23 February 2021)
- HM Treasury Women in Finance Charter Annual Review 2020
- PensionBee
- Taken from Office of National Statistics Employment by Industry dataset, (released 23 February 2021)
