Retail organisation John Lewis has revealed that its 2022 mean gender pay gap was 7.9%, down from 9% in 2021 and below the average for the sector of 13.5%.
Its 2022 median gender pay gap was 5.8%, down from 6.4% the prior year, and lower than the retail average of 8.5%. Both its mean and median gaps were lower than its respective 13.9% and 14.9% in 2017, which was its first year of reporting.
According to the employer, the current gender pay gap is driven by the higher proportion of female staff in entry-level roles, differences in gender representation in different job functions and premium pay for anti-social hours. The total number of female workers dropped slightly compared with 2021.
John Lewis’ 2022 mean gender bonus pay gap was 24.9%, lower than 7.6% in 2021 and the retail average of 30.1%. Its median gap was 33%, which was lower than the 41.3% retail average. A total of 95.7% of male employees and 96.9% of female employees received a bonus in 2022.
Employees did not receive a bonus in 2021. Male staff worked more hours on average per week than women, which John Lewis cited as the reason behind the bonus gap.
The employer has reported its ethnicity pay gap since 2019. Its mean pay gap for 2022 was 4%, down from 5% the prior year and 8% in 2019. Its median ethnicity pay gap was 0.2%, up from -1.8% in 2021 and -1.2% in 2019.
Sharon White, partner and chairman of John Lewis, said: “In the last year, we’ve made some great progress in our mission to become the UK’s most inclusive business. It remains a bold ambition and I’m excited to share this report, which highlights some of our key achievements. I’m particularly proud to see an increase in the ethnic minority representation of our leaders and that, through our newly created advisory group, we’re now able to hear about the experiences of transgender and non-binary partners.”