Law firm acknowledges gender pay gap

Friday 03 February 2023

One of Guernsey's offshore law firms has voluntarily published its own gender pay gap report confirming that its female staff earn an average of 17.5% less per hour than its male employees.

Mourant's own study also shows that where bonuses are concerned, its female employees receive 32.5% less than male staff.

The 'gender pay gap' is the difference between the average pay of male and female employees. It is not about equal pay for equal roles but about showing the varying distribution of men and women in higher paying and lower paying roles across an organisation.

Compulsory pay gap reporting has been a requirement in the UK for businesses with a headcount of 250 people or more  since 2017.

Mourant doesn't meet this threshold so it wasn't obliged to release the results of its internal review but decided to do so anyway.

Pictured: With different strands to its business, Mourant declared the gender pay gap in each sector.

Global Managing Partner, Jonathan Rigby, said that having knowledge of the firm's gender pay gap means they have a better understanding of how to address it. By being open and transparent about the gap and what they are doing as a firm to address it, he hopes they will empower their workforce further.

"Knowledge of our gender pay gap provides us with greater visibility of gender representation across all areas and levels of our business, and opportunities to identify reasons for imbalance and develop actions to address it. We believe that having this knowledge, and transparency with our people and our clients, is essential to achieving our vision of an authentically inclusive culture where everyone feels like they belong and can thrive. We've therefore voluntarily chosen to analyse and publish our global gender pay gap data annually going forward, alongside a supporting action plan, to help ensure we achieve an authentically diverse and inclusive workforce at all levels."

Mr Rigby is an Inclusion Leader at the firm, which he said is a key component of their business ethos now.

"At Mourant, we believe in inclusive workplaces where everyone feels seen, heard, valued and respected. Equity, diversity and inclusion is a key business and people priority for us and is embedded throughout our firm-wide strategy. As Global Managing Partner, I'm fully committed to taking meaningful steps to enable and empower our people, of all backgrounds, identities and experiences, to fulfil their potential. Analysing and publishing our Global Gender Pay Gap Report is one of those steps.

Pictured: Jonathan Rigby, Group Managing Partner at Mourant.

Guernsey's Chamber of Commerce has welcomed Mourant's move to self publicise its own gender pay gap.

President, Diane De Garis said being honest about how they are tackling any known issues is a great way to do so.

“The far-reaching benefits of diversity and equality at all levels, not just leadership and decision-making are widely acknowledged, yet on the whole, women continue to be under-represented and underpaid.  Honesty and transparency is a great first step in tackling the gender gap and we are supportive of all action on this topic.”

Mourant's Gender Pay Gap

Mourant's full Gender Pay Gap report can be read HERE.

It shows that women's pay is 17.5% lower than men's, because men make up a higher proportion of those in higher paying roles with more women in lower paying roles.

Mourant has far fewer female partners than male partners at 27% to 73%.

With bonuses, men and women working at Mourant are rewarded equally with 68% of each gender receiving a performance related bonus and 32% not.