Ethnicity Pay Gap report 2023
11 December 2023
This report covers the statutory gender pay reporting for the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) – the regulatory body for solicitors in England and Wales.
Although there is not a statutory requirement to publish the ethnicity pay gap, we have chosen to publish this information for the third year running.
The ethnicity pay gap is defined as the difference between the mean or median hourly pay rate that White staff and staff from a Black, Asian and minority ethnic background receive.
The mean pay gap is the difference between hourly earnings for staff from a Black, Asian and minority ethnic background and White staff, taking the sum of all hourly rates divided by the total number of White or other Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff.
The median pay gap is the difference between the midpoints in the ranges of hourly earnings between staff from a Black, Asian and minority ethnic background and White staff. It takes all salaries, in order from lowest to highest, and picks the middle-most salary.
The figures in the charts below are based on hourly rates of pay during the monthly pay period ending on 25 April 2022 and bonuses paid in the year up to 5 April 2023. The figures are compared to corresponding figures for years ending April 2022 and April 2021.
Difference in pay between staff from a Black, Asian and minority ethnic background and White staff
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | +/- percentage point change 2022-23 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean pay gap | 21.5% | 17.6% | 12.7% | -4.9% |
| Median pay gap | 15% | 12.7% | 7.6% | -5.1% |
In 2023, both the mean and median pay gap have decreased compared to 2022.
Difference in bonus between staff from a Black, Asian and minority ethnic background and White staff
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | +/- percentage point change 2022-23 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean bonus gap | 46.9% | 49.5% | 37.7% | -11.8% |
| Median bonus gap | 16.7% | 30% | 23.3% | -6.7% |
In 2023, both the mean and median bonus gap have decreased compared to 2022.
There are various bonus schemes for different levels throughout the SRA.
The charts show the ethnicity split when we divide our workforce by ordering hourly rates of pay from highest to lowest and grouping the pay into four equal quartiles.
Approximately 21 percent of our workforce are from other ethnic backgrounds/
Understanding the gap
Our 2023 median pay gap is 7.6 percent, which is higher than the most recently published UK median pay gap of 2.3 percent (Office of National Statistics 2019).
Our ethnicity pay gap has reduced this year, predominately due to the change in the proportion of Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff at the more senior levels.
What we've achieved on ethnicity pay
Overall, we have seen some welcome improvements to our ethnicity pay gap. But the picture is less positive at senior level, and we remain committed to doing everything we can to make our senior grades more reflective of our wider workforce.
Below is a summary of some of the ongoing measures in place to address the ethnicity pay gap:
- Reviewed our recruitment policy and practises and committed to reviewing our preferred suppliers for recruitment
- introduced a reverse mentoring scheme for Black, Asian and minority ethnic colleagues to mentor our Chief Executive and his executive team
- introduced a new inter-organisational mentoring scheme, initially targeted at colleagues from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.
We developed our workforce senior ethnicity inclusion action plan to significantly improve ethnic diversity at senior levels and that work continues.
We continue to be committed to a fully inclusive workplace.