Boots UK has today published its gender pay gap information in accordance with the Government’s Gender Pay Gap Regulations.

As a business that’s been around for almost 170 years and with a 78% female workforce, Boots UK has long championed and supported key women’s issues. The release of these figures today are part of this journey, and it believes they go beyond fulfilling a regulatory obligation, and are an important step as we all work towards creating gender equality in every aspect of our society.

It reported a median gender pay gap of 5%, which is significantly better than the national average median of 18.4%. Within the first three quartiles of colleagues’ pay, which are populated on average by an 82% female workforce, Boots UK’s gender pay gap is around 1% in favour of women.

Women account for 68% of the highest paid quartile of colleagues at Boots UK. The main reason for a gender pay gap in this quartile is due to variations in market rates for different job functions which have a different gender mix (for example, there’s a 78% female workforce in HR, compared to 28% in higher paid IT roles) and a higher male representation in more senior roles.

Elizabeth Fagan, Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Boots UK & ROI, said: “We welcome the introduction of gender pay gap reporting as it’s an opportunity to identify the root causes of any gaps that exist within our business. As the Managing Director of Boots, it’s a guiding principle of my leadership that we all champion equality of opportunity and create an environment where all of our colleagues can thrive and achieve their career aspirations.”

Boots UK already offers colleagues a variety of flexible working policies to help facilitate their work/life balance. In 2017, maternity pay was enhanced and gender listening groups have been implemented amongst colleagues to understand any perceived barriers they may have to their ambitions, as well as to gain new insight for any revisions to its policies and procedures.

Boots UK offers all colleagues diversity and inclusion training and a new training programme on unconscious bias is being introduced. Among other areas of focus, Boots UK will also encourage its female colleagues to explore a number of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) schemes which are being trialed across the business.

To view the Boots UK Gender Pay Gap report in full, click here.