Accord Equality & Fairness Annual Report 2018
Organisational Development
As at 5th April 2018 Accord’s gender pay gap results are consistent with the national UK
average, for all employees, which was 17.9%. This means that women nationally are paid
17.9% less than men. For Accord our figure is 18.82%. Staff Voices is Accord’s regular staff consultative forum and regular meetings are held
to discuss a range of issues. Staff Voices requested that the domestic abuse support in
place for customers be made available to colleagues, as statistically it is likely that some
of our colleagues may be victims of domestic abuse. Accord has provided a confidential
independent telephone support service for some time and it is available to all colleagues
to discuss personal or work related issues.
Accord has a very diverse workforce, covering numerous disciplines from Care through to
Construction.
The policy, guidelines and confidential support services for victims of domestic abuse is
in addition to that ‘offer’. We have also recently named mental health champions and are
launching a “Well-being” hub.
Learning and development
Accord is committed to pay equality. Salaries are awarded based on the position which
colleagues fulfil and are not based on gender or any other protected characteristic. Pay
grades and hourly rates are regularly reviewed and are based on market rates. The gender
pay gap is not about equal pay and should not be confused with this.
Accord
Mean
(Average)
18.82%
Median
(Middle)
5.59%
Accord Pay Quartiles
The following images illustrate the gender distribution at
Accord across four equally sized quartiles.
Quartile 2
Leadership and personal development
Quartile 3
Highest
Female
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During the year Accord’s Safeguarding Policy and Procedures have been updated in
line with new Care Act definitions and reference to the Modern Slavery Act. We have a
Board member safeguarding ‘champion’ sitting on the safeguarding scrutiny panel. The
commitment to ‘making safeguarding personal’ is reflected in strategic objectives as
identified in the safeguarding annual report.
Lowest
A new e-learning training offer for colleagues has been launched during the year
including: essential training on safeguarding, fairness, recruitment and selection,
domestic abuse, anti-social behaviour and hate crime. Senior management have been
tasked with ensuring that safeguarding training is undertaken by all colleagues, regardless
of job role.
Within Accord there are also now no zero-hours contracts and occupational sick pay is
paid for all employees. (There are some exceptions in Direct Health).
The workforce is predominantly female (76%) and whilst well-represented in all quartiles
there is a skew towards the lower paid roles that also offer greater flexibility in hours such
as those found in Care. Pay rates in the social care industry are guided by national living
wage and local authority funding structures that are in place. Our gender pay gap results
should be considered in the context of this.
Gender pay gap
Accord currently has 60 apprentices (both new apprentices and upskilling existing staff)
in a range of disciplines including in Care & Support, in Accord Works, central services,
Customer First and the LoCal Homes factory.
Male
Charlie Jones -
Project Officer Apprentice Gihan Southam -
Electrical Maintenance Apprentice
Jake Howell -
General Maintenace Apprenctice Kieron Mathieson -
Vehicle Fleet Management Officer
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