The mean pay gap – based on the average hourly salary of staff – was 31% as of April 2017, Lloydspharmacy revealed in its gender pay gap report published today (April 4).

The multiple’s median pay gap – which takes the mid-point when all hourly rates are lined up from biggest to smallest, reducing the impact of one-off outliers – was 3%, it added.

The “majority” (79%) of Lloydspharmacy employees are female, the multiple noted.

Hilary Stables, HR director at Lloydspharmacy’s parent company Celesio UK, said the reasons for the pay gap are “complex”.

“At the time data was gathered, there were more men in senior positions within our head office, and in our Lloydspharmacy stores we employ a lot of part-time females which can cause variation in mean levels of pay,” she told C+D.

The Lloydspharmacy population can be broken down into “retail-based roles” and “professional and management roles”, which includes pharmacists and store managers, the multiple said.

When broken down by divisions, the mean pay gap in professional and management roles is 13% in favour of men, while the average female employed in a retail-based role earns 3% more than the average male, Lloydspharmacy added.

“There is no significant difference between hourly pay rate of male and female employees within our retail network,” the multiple stressed.

Bonus gap

As an employer with over 250 staff, Lloydspharmacy was required by law to publish its gender pay gap, gender bonus gap, the proportion of men and women receiving bonuses, and the proportion of men and women in each pay band in the organisation by April 4.

Ms Stables said Lloydspharmacy recognises the “importance of having transparent and fair pay structures”.

Despite bonuses being “gender neutral” and female employees being “34% more likely to receive a bonus”, the mean gap between the amount of bonus given was 228% in favour of males, while the median was 101%.

Lloydspharmacy said it attributed the bonus pay gap to the inclusion of part-time roles in its bonus scheme, as 79% of part-time positions are filled by female employees and are “generally lower-paid and also receive smaller bonuses”.

What is being done?

Ms Stables said: “Although we recognise that there is a difference between male and female pay, we do not believe there is a significant gender pay gap issue.”

However, “where any variance exists, we are committed to addressing it”, she added.

Lloydspharmacy said it is “introducing a performance-related pay structure”, which it believes “should further narrow the gaps between gender pay”.

Last month, Boots revealed its mean gender pay gap was 21%, with a median pay gap of 5%. Three days later, Well Pharmacy revealed its mean gender pay gap was 20%, and median 1%.