GLD Smashes Gender Pay Gap — Women in the Lead for Fourth Year Running!
The Government Legal Department (GLD) is smashing it on gender pay. For the fourth year straight, women are earning more on average than men at GLD. This year, the mean gender pay gap stands at -3.35% and the median at -2.25%, both favouring women. That’s a step up from 2021’s figures of -2.64% (mean) and -1.13% (median).
GLD Leads Civil Service and Legal Sector on Diversity
These results put GLD among the top civil service departments with a gender pay gap favouring women. As one of the UK’s biggest legal organisations, GLD cements its role as a trailblazer for diversity and inclusion in the legal world.
“I am so pleased that we continue to have such a marginal gender pay gap. GLD has long been an organisation where women thrive and I am very proud of that,” said Treasury Solicitor and Permanent Secretary Susanna McGibbon. “We compare well amongst Civil Service Departments and even more impressively within the legal sector. I believe this demonstrates the success of putting diversity and inclusion at the heart of our business and our values.
However, we are not complacent and we will continue to pursue initiatives to reduce our pay gaps across the department.”
Diversity Drives Success — But Bonus Gap Needs Tackling
GLD’s strong gender pay position comes from embracing diversity of backgrounds and opinions. Women hold high-level positions, with a 60:40 female-to-male split department-wide and a perfect 50:50 split at Senior Civil Service (SCS) grade.
However, there’s a slight blip on bonuses. The bonus gender pay gap now slightly favours men — rising from a mean of 4.37% (2021) to 4.59% in 2022 and the median jumping sharply from 0.00% to 13.04%. This is largely due to bigger bonuses at the Senior Civil Service level.
GLD Outshines Civil Service Average
- GLD 2022 mean gender pay gap: -3.35% (in favour of women)
- Civil Service average mean gender pay gap: 8.5%
- GLD 2022 median gender pay gap: -2.25%
- Civil Service average median gender pay gap: 11.3%
GLD’s legal work underpins government decisions that affect millions across the UK — making its commitment to fair pay and diversity all the more important.
