Barratt Developments PLC – Annual report – 30 June 2022
Industry: real estate
STRATEGIC REPORT (extract)
Strategic priorities: Investing in our people (extract)
Diversity and inclusion
We aim to create a working environment that provides equal opportunities for all and we are a signatory to the Business in the Community Race at Work Charter.
Selection for employment and promotion within Barratt is based on merit, following an objective assessment of ability and experience, and after giving full and fair consideration to all applicants. We are also committed to ensuring that our workplaces are free from discrimination and that everyone is treated with dignity and respect. We strive to ensure that our policies and practices provide equal opportunities in respect of training, career development and promotion for existing and potential employees, at all levels throughout the business, irrespective of age, disability, gender, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race and ethnicity, nationality, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. We also remain signatories to the Social Mobility Pledge, committing us to providing opportunities to people from all different backgrounds.
Every effort is made to retain and support employees who become disabled during their time working within the Group and we continue to remove physical barriers for disabled colleagues or applicants.
All new employees receive mandatory diversity and inclusion training as part of their induction process. However, we recognise that we need to do more to develop greater diversity and inclusion within the Group. A new Head of Diversity and Inclusion joined the Group in FY22 and we intend to accelerate initiatives to further develop the diversity of our workplaces and ensure everyone who works within the Group feels they belong and are comfortable to be themselves.
We have made progress in female leadership representation. We continue to focus on this area through “Catalyst”, our development and support programme, to help high-potential female employees develop their careers within the Group. As at 30 June 2022, women held 17% (FY21: 16%) of senior manager roles within the Group. We continue to work towards improving ethnic minority representation. As at 30 June 2022, 7% (FY21: 7%) of employees were from ethnic minority backgrounds and 2.1% (FY21: 1.5%) of senior leadership positions were held by ethnic minority employees.
Our employee networks have also become an increasingly important way for us to create a more open and inclusive business, and enables us to listen directly to the needs of our people. Our networks include groups to connect parents, LGBTQ+ colleagues and allies, and “Barratt Connect”, a group for anyone who has felt isolated or missed the social interaction created by reduced office-based working during the pandemic. We are delighted to have added a group for our colleagues from Ethnic Minority Communities (EMC) this year, and implemented the foundations for a Disabled network who will meet for the first time in July 2022.
A real Living Wage employer
During the year, we maintained our Living Wage Foundation accreditation, reflecting the Group’s commitment to paying our employees and supply chain employees an independently calculated rate of pay, which is based on the actual cost of living. The real Living Wage exceeds the national living wage (set by the Government) and covers all employees aged 18+, as well as incorporating a London weighting. Holding this accreditation demonstrates our clear commitment to our employees, suppliers and sub-contractors.
Our standard sub-contractor terms and conditions mandate the payment of the real Living Wage within our supply chain. To support this, we have implemented spot checks by divisions on higher risk trades and implemented internal remediation feedback systems. Where we find instances of non-compliance – as we did for one sub-contractor during the year – we require this to be rectified, with follow-up audits conducted to ensure full compliance. For those working in jurisdictions other than the UK, our expectation, included within our contract requirements, is that local statutory minimum wages are paid.
Gender pay gap
In November 2021, we published our annual Gender Pay Gap report. Our mean gender pay gap declined from 6.5% to 6.2%, and the median pay gap declined from 0.2% to (0.4%). The decrease in both measures during the period is largely due to commissions paid to our predominantly female sales teams in the comparator period, whereas most bonuses were cancelled due to the impact and uncertainty caused by COVID-19. This is also reflected in our mean bonus gap which also decreased more significantly from 33.4% to 2.8%, with our median gender bonus gap also falling from (1.4%) to (14.9%).
By early 2023 we will publish both our 2022 Gender Pay Gap Report and, for the first time, our Ethnicity Pay Gap Report, which will be available on our website.
Accounts examples 