UK retailer Asda has released its gender pay figures for the previous year, showing that it has reduced the gap in the average hourly pay rates of male and female employees for the third consecutive year.
The figures are also well below the national average, the retailer added.
In 2020, the mean pay difference between all relevant men and women employed by Asda was 8.4%, a reduction of 2.7% compared to 2019 and 6.2% lower than the national average of 14.6%.
The median pay difference between all male and female Asda employees was 5.5%, which reflects a reduction of 1% compared to 2019 and is 10% lower than the national average of 15.5% for full and part-time workers.
An 'Inclusive Employer'
Asda's chief people officer, Hayley Tatum, said that it further underscores the company's commitment to being an "inclusive employer" before adding that the company faces "challenges with regards to female representation in senior roles."
Asda has kickstarted a number of initiatives to reduce this gap over the longer term and bring more women into senior roles, such as delivering unconscious bias awareness training for managers, and balanced candidate slates and interview panels for all senior hires.
'High-Potential Female Employees'
Tatum said that a key part of reducing the gender pay gap is developing "high-potential female employees" through several programmes and initiatives.
In 2020, the proportion of female colleagues in the upper two pay quartiles increased, while the proportion of female colleagues in the lowest pay quartile reduced, the retailer noted.
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Conor Farrelly. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
