'Disappointing' Gender Pay Gap Increase

Women working in Jersey's public sector were paid 15% less than their male colleagues last year, according to new figures.

The government has published its Gender Pay Gap Report for 2022, revealing a 2.6% increase in the disparity between men and women's earnings.

The statistics cover the difference in average hourly income between all men and women in the public sector, not the pay difference in the same job.

Jersey's Chief Minister, Deputy Kristina Moore, chairs the States Employment Board.

She told Channel 103 the growing pay gap is disappointing: "We need to focus on how we can improve that figure for next year.

"What we have to do is continue to look forward to ensuring our policies are meeting the needs of our workforce and encouraging the best possible people to be attracted to come and work with us.

"We continue to do that. It's a constantly evolving picture."

Deputy Kristina Moore says the 2.6% increase in the government's gender pay gap is "disappointing"

Although there was an increase in the difference between 2021 and 2022, the gap has reduced significantly since 2020, when it was 24.3%.

The government plans to encourage women to join apprenticeships and boards and to upskill, in a bid to shrink the gap further.

Deputy Moore added: "It's really important that we offer the greatest opportunities to everyone in our workforce to gain new skills so they can continue to progress and achieve the most that they want to out of their careers."

Other efforts include family-friendly policies to increase the amount of paid time off for parents and improve flexible working guidelines.

Doctors and consultants show the most significant gender pay gap, but the government says this is because 60% of the high-earning doctors and consultants are male.

Another reason the gap is so considerable in this field is consultants are paid much more than junior doctors.

The government reports a much more even split of female and male junior doctors when compared to specialists.

An area that has shown significant improvement is the prison service.

The Chief Minister also says that other public sector professionals, such as teachers and customer and local services, do not have a pay gap.

Deputy Moore said: "There's much to champion in our workforce, but always much more to do."