Cereal brand Weetabix has reported a mean gender pay gap of 3.64% for 2022, down by 0.38% from 4.01% in 2021.
Its 2022 median gender pay gap was 1.86%, down from 3.44% in 2021. This was below the UK national average of 14.9%.
The employer’s top pay quartile was made up of 42.02% women and 57.98% men, whereas its lowest pay quartile consisted of 33.19% women and 66.81% men.
In order to boost equal representation, Weetabix committed to using gender neutral language in its job postings, including working with third-parties such as Equalture to better support candidates and hire based purely on indicators of job performance.
Over the past year, Weetabix updated its gender inclusive policies to better support employees undergoing fertility treatment, as well as those dealing with miscarriage or stillbirth. It introduced a menopause policy designed to help those experiencing symptoms in the workplace, created peer and line manager guides to enable teams to access helpful resources and best support one another, and introduced assistance for staff about to embark upon a gender affirming transition journey.
It has also worked with each department to set up flexible working practices that support staff in their roles, establishing ‘Weetabix Wednesdays’ as its core on-site day, and allowing teams to be flexible when choosing the other days that they are on site. According to the business, this approach was developed to acknowledge the role flexible practices have to play in workplace and workload parity.
Sally Abbott, managing director at Weetabix, said: “We are proud of these results, but know there is more work to be done. There is still a gap to close, and we are committed to doing so. But gender equality isn’t just about pay, there are other factors that contribute to creating a truly balanced and inclusive workplace. This includes offering additional support to our employees with caring responsibilities, those going through the menopause, those returning to work after parental leave, and a myriad of other personal circumstances that can affect our working lives.
“I’m so very grateful to everyone who has worked for us or works for us today, from manufacturing teams through to technical teams and production operators, sales and marketing teams, support staff, our pensioners and our apprentices alike for their tremendous efforts and dedication during our long history.”