Equal Pay Audit 2014/15
Executive Summary
September 2015 version 1.0
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1. Executive Summary
All data in this report reflects the Met office position as at February 2014. Based on this information
the report includes at Annex A an Equal Pay Action Plan.
Workforce Overview
The Met Office works at the forefront of weather and climate science for protection,
prosperity and wellbeing. It plays a critical role in national life through its development and
24x7 delivery of world-leading operational weather and climate services to citizens, HM
Government and many other public and private sector organisations, operating as a
Trading Fund Agency within the Business, Innovation and Skills Department. The breadth
and depth of our work is incredibly varied, and this is reflected in the expertise and highly
skilled workforce we need to deliver our vision of “Global Partner of Choice”. We offer
career opportunities throughout the STEM spectrum in the fields of Science, Operational
Meteorology, Engineering and Technology through to Business Development, Marketing,
Legal & Procurement, Communications, HR, Finance, Project Management and
Administration.
Excluding the Senior Civil Service (SCS) the Met Office employed 2040 staff as at February
2014 all of whom are on Met Office Role based reward terms & conditions across and
throughout fourteen professions. This is an increase on the 1878 staff employed in 2009.
The proportion of female employees has increased from 25% to 32% since 2008/9. In the
Operational Meteorology profession this has increased from 17% to 30%. As at February
2014, over 60% of females had less than 5 years service.
The Met Office moved from a broad banded Job level pay structure to its current pay
system (role and market based reward system) in April 2009. On moving to the current pay
system in 2008/9 legacy basic pay levels were transferred into the new pay system.
Reductions to basic pay were subsequently applied and basic pay levels then contained
within the new pay system structure to support pay equality.
Overall Gender Gap
Gender pay gap is defined as the difference between men’s and women’s hourly earnings as
a percentage of men’s earnings. It is common practice to consider the gender pay gap
across the organisation taking no account of grades (role) or working pattern. EHRC
guideline for acceptable pay gaps is 3.0%.
The overall pay gap between men and women at Met Office in February 2014 was 10.7%.
Gender Gap Role on Role
Overall the role on role findings show that there is a pay gap of less than 3% (female to
male) for 89% of staff.
Further comparison of the role on role average basic pay of all men and women identifies a
range of pay gaps from 0% - 15.5%.
There are a number of roles with less than 10 occupants in each gender. As at February
2014 there was no female representation in 5% of total posts (106out of 2040).
Working Pattern
There were12% of total staff working part time. 8% of the total number of males compared
to 21% of total females working part-time. Part time females have a lower average basic
pay than both part time and full time males and the pay gap is over the EHRC 3% guideline.
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Age
Full-time staff
Analysis by age shows that largest pay gaps are for those over 56 and the lowest in the age
range of 25-35 years.
Part-time staff
Pay gaps were identified in all age groups with the greatest pay gap in those over the age of
56 years. The largest number of female staff was found in the 36-40 years age group where
the pay gap was 5.6%.
Ethnicity and Disability
31% of employees have not declared their ethnicity or disability; this may impact on the
overall findings which show the pay gaps between BME and White staff as 9.5% and
disabled and non-disabled staff as 9.9%.
Performance Markings
The comparison of performance ratings shows:

the proportion of female employees receiving 2013/14 “Exceeded” performance
ratings was 1% less than the number of males.

when comparing “Exceeded” ratings by work pattern, a higher proportion of full time
staff received an “Exceeded” rating than part time

“Partially Met” and “Not Met” ratings were reviewed similarly; there are so few
instances making meaningful analysis difficult.
Personal Bonus
Personal Bonuses in 2013/14 show that more male (17%) than female staff (14%) received
a bonus and that more full than part time staff received a bonus.
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2. Background
Equality Human Rights Commission (EHRC) states an Equal Pay Audit is the most effective
way of establishing whether pay systems are free from discrimination. Public organisations
are required to regularly audit their pay systems with regards to equal pay. The benefits of
conducting regular audits include:

establishing whether our pay strategy is delivering as expected

identifying where adjustments might be beneficial

providing essential information to defend any Equal Pay claims that go to Tribunal.
The Met Office committed to undertaking a formal equal pay audit to ensure its pay systems
are free from bias. This represents the first full formal pay audit since the pay and grading
system transformation of our in 2008/9.
On 22 June 2010 the Chancellor announced a two year pay freeze in the public sector.
Employees earning a full-time equivalent salary of £21,000 or less were protected from the
pay freeze and were required to receive a minimum consolidated pay increase of £250 for
each of the two years. The impact of the pay freeze followed by further pay constraints on
public sector pay, means that most Met Office staff did not see a consolidated pay increase
in 2011/12 and 2012/13 and 1% in 2013/14 & 2014/15.
The Met Office Pay and Grading review 2008/9
The primary objectives of the 2008/09 Pay and Grading review were to:


evaluate our reward systems
to ensure staff are rewarded for the contribution made
Following the pay and grading review, the 2009 reward philosophy aimed to:
 link business performance, individual performance and achievement to the external
job market whereby pay and benefits reflect the contribution made in an affordable
way.
 provide a competitive pay and benefits package able to attract, engage and retain the
right talent
 provide personal choice and flexibility
 assess contribution and enable the development of a high performance culture
All roles in the Met Office are evaluated on the objectives that reflect the role and level of
accountabilities. A role is a broad area of work that the Met Office needs to be delivered and
is broken down into one or more specific job descriptions. All jobs in the Met Office fit into a
role. We have staff occupying 114 roles each with a defined purpose, accountability and
required professional skills. The Met Office has 14 distinct professions which align with
professional bodies and/or professional skills for government; all have distinct professional
skills frameworks and levels within.
The Met Office 2008/9 pay agreement moved the Met Office to a role and market based pay
system1. The move was designed to
 support the management of pay disparity across the MO removing from the "timeserved" and incremental based approach of the former Job level Broad banded pay
and grading structure.
 reduce the divergence from market,
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The Met Office pay system includes national pay ranges only. These pay ranges are applied consistently to all roles and all
UK and overseas workplaces. Location allowances are paid to those working overseas and London and Shetland Islands
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
reduce gender pay gaps.
On moving to this (Role and Reward based) system in 2008/9 staff legacy pay levels were
transferred into the new pay ranges at the level of their basic pay at that time. Where these
were higher than the relevant [new] pay range maximum for the role they were held above
the top of the new pay range. These employees then had the value over the pay range
maximum removed in 2 stages in 2012 and 2013. New appointments including those newly
recruited or promoted usually join the pay range at the minimum (Development entry level).
Public sector pay constraints prevented a complete transformation of the system but Met
Office obtained approval to a two year deal for the year 2008/9 to 2009/10.
3. Report Terms of Reference
The purpose of this report is to

assess the Met Office’s equal pay position

consider whether our pay systems are biased in respect of any of the protected
characteristics including gender

highlight areas of risk or concern and to assess how these risks and issues may be
addressed.
The report is based on statistical analysis of staff employed by the Met Office as at 28
February 2014. Subsequent staff and pay movement has not materially changed the data
and analysis i.e. in the context of continued Public sector pay policy and constraint.
Senior Civil Servants (SCS) are not included (2 at time of reporting). SCS pay levels are
determined by HM Government centrally.
All employees are subject to the Met Office performance management system.
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Annex A - Action Plan
ID
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Issue
Pay leads. (e.g. in the Operational
Meteorology profession).
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Equal Pay Audit. No baseline Equal Pay
Audit to consider trends
Ethnicity & Disability. Management
Information on ethnicity and disability
covers 70% with 30% choosing not to
provide a declaration, which makes it more
difficult to establish/follow trends with
certainty when auditing.
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Age. The pay lead in the over 56 age
group and the male long service lead.
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Performance Rating. Long term absence
notional “Met” performance rating policy
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Gender. Nil representation of females in
some roles.
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Working Patterns. Full time male pay lead
on female part time staff (e.g. in some
science roles).
Action to take
Review in more detail as part of the
Met Office Reward Strategy and
paybill controls review to include
recommendation(s) for addressing
issues
Conduct a regular Equal Pay Audit
Status
Ongoing
Progress
Review began in 2014 and is ongoing
with BIS and HM Treasury
Open
Improve through internal
communications advising staff on the
importance of reporting and targeting
those with no declaration. Initiate
external benchmarking including with
private sector and any international
comparators
Review as part of the Met Office
Reward Strategy and paybill controls
review
Conduct an equality impact
assessment on the pay policy for
long term absence and performance
ratings equality
Raise with relevant management
areas via HR business partners.
Continue to ensure pay equality
policy and practice applied when
making appointments to all roles.
Review in more detail as part of the
Met Office Reward Strategy and
Paybill controls review & include
recommendation(s) for addressing
issues
Open
Conduct a full Equal Pay Audit every 2/3
years.
HR to plan further targeted
communications to encourage better
coverage.
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Open
Review began in 2014 and is ongoing
with BIS and HM Treasury
Open
2014/15 Pay award applied updated
policy for maternity/adoption..
Ongoing
Open
Science profession already taking action
STEM activity continues
Talent pipeline work continues
Review began in 2014 and is ongoing
with BIS and HM Treasury
ID
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Issue
Performance ratings and Personal Bonus
awards. Lead among male full time
workers.
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Pay System. Constrained ability under
current paybill controls to reduce the pay
leads to manageable and equitable levels.
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Promotion/Progression. No data collected
on promotion/progression.
Action to take
Strengthen the performance review
consultation processes conducted by
senior managers, by supporting
formal equality assessments on
gender and working pattern.
Review in more detail as part of the
Met Office reward Strategy and
paybill controls review. Introduce
mechanisms to reduce the pay range
span.
Collate data and review consistency
of promotion/progression in next
Equal Pay Report
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Status
Open
Progress
Undertake EIA of performance review
process
Ongoing
Ongoing discussions with BIS/HMT on
Business cases for pay and paybill
control flexibilities.
Open
To be assessed under future audits
Undertake EIA of profession progression
rounds.
Met Office
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Devon EX1 3PB
United Kingdom
Tel (UK): 0370 900 0100 (Int): +44 1392 885680
Fax (UK): 0370 900 5050 (Int): +44 1392 885681
[email protected]
www.metoffice.gov.uk
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