National Archives - Gender Pay Gap - 2021
Source: data.gov.uk (2024-10-09)

National Archives - Gender Pay Gap. Gender Pay Gap Details - The National Archives

Gender Pay Gap Report 
 
31 March 2021 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
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Introduction 
In 2017, the Government introduced world-leading legislation that made it statutory for 
organisations with 250 or more employees to report annually on their gender pay gap. 
Government departments are covered by the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and 
Public Authorities) Regulations 2017 that came into force on 31 March 2017. These 
regulations underpin the Public Sector Equality Duty and require relevant organisations 
to publish their gender pay gap by 30 March annually. This includes the mean and 
median gender pay gaps; the mean and median gender bonus gaps; the proportion of 
men and women who received bonuses; and the proportions of male and female 
employees in each pay quartile. 
The gender pay gap shows the difference in the average pay between all men and 
women in a workforce. If a workforce has a particularly high gender pay gap, this can 
indicate there may be a number of issues to deal with, and the individual calculations 
may help to identify what those issues are. 
The gender pay gap is different to equal pay. Equal pay deals with the pay differences 
between men and women who carry out the same jobs, similar jobs or work of equal 
value. It is unlawful to pay people unequally because they are a man or a woman. 
Difference in Hourly Rate 
Women’s mean hourly rate is 2.9% lower than men’s 
Women’s median hourly rate is 5.8% lower than men’s 
Proportion of Women in Each Pay Quartile 
Upper (Highest Paid) 
48.1% women 
51.9% men 
Upper Middle 
54.4% women 
45.6% men 
Lower Middle 
64.7% women 
35.3% men 
Lower (Lowest Paid) 
46.3% women 
53.7% men 
 
50% 

 
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Who Received Bonus Pay 
19.8% of women  
20.2% of men 
Difference in Bonus Pay 
Women’s mean bonus pay is 10.4% lower than men’s  
Women’s median bonus pay is 0% lower than men’s 
What Our Data Shows 
The mean and median differences in hourly rate suggest that we have a small gender 
pay gap in favour of men, however the gap has fallen by 1.2% in the mean and 1.6% in 
the median since last year. 
Women continue to make up the largest percentage of the middle quartiles with slightly 
more men in the upper and lower quartiles. These are largely unchanged since last 
year, however the proportion of women in the lower middle quartile has increased by 
2.4%. 
In grades below the Senior Civil Service, the bonus awarded by The National Archives is 
the same for all employees whose performance was assessed as being exceptional. The 
mean difference for most employees is therefore 0%. The reason why the mean bonus 
pay is higher for men is because the amount and timing of bonuses awarded to the 
Senior Civil Service varies. 
Action We Are Taking 
Last year we took steps to address a number of pay issues across The National Archives, 
one of the aims of which was to reduce the likelihood of gender pay disparities from 
occurring. This appears to have had a positive effect and we continue to explore further 
improvements that are within our control. We are confident that we have no structural 
issues that would cause systematic, unjustifiable disparities in pay between men and 
women. 
Otherwise the main factors we believe influence our relatively low gender pay gap are 
our positive approach to flexible working patterns, in particular those that do not have 
an impact on pay. These are particularly beneficial for those returning from maternity 
leave or with caring responsibilities as it increases the likelihood of them remaining full 
time. Over the last year we have also introduced hybrid working, which allows 
employees to work flexibly at home or in the office within certain parameters as their 
individual role permits. In addition, we operate 'anonymised recruitment' at the 

 
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application stage and offer all roles with the option of flexible working to ensure an 
inclusive recruitment experience. 
We hold moderation meetings to guard against discrimination or favouritism and to 
help ensure all performance markings are fair and consistent. We are continuing to 
develop our diversity and inclusion training and awareness weeks and offer wellbeing 
initiatives throughout the year. Our Employee Assistance Programme gives advice and 
support on a range of issues and provides a professional counselling service.