The Office for Nuclear Regulation’s (ONR) gender pay gap has decreased by almost 3%, a new report shows.
Analysis has concluded that ONR’s gender pay gap reduced from 27.3% to 24.4% during the last 12 months.
The overall figure has fallen by 8.54% since ONR started reporting this data in 2017, the ONR gender pay report details.
Dave Caton, ONR’s Director of Human Resources, said: “We remain fully committed to driving change across the gender pay spectrum and our actions are designed to create a more diverse and inclusive organisation, and better reflect today’s society.
“We are pursuing a focused, transparent and collaborative strategy as part of our work to continue reducing the gender pay gap.”
While ONR recognises there is more to be achieved, it is pleased to see that long-term and strategic approaches are producing positive results.
Why do ONR report on the gender pay gap?
As a public sector organisation, ONR is required by The Equalities Act 2010 to publish its gender pay gap results against six prescribed indicators of gender pay equality.
It is committed to putting actions in place to improve gender diversity at all levels, reducing the gender pay gap, and ultimately eradicating it.
Sharing this data publicly is important as it demonstrates ONR’s work towards achieving more diversity and inclusion, putting commitments to openness and transparency into practice.
This aligns with ONR’s organisational values of being fair, open-minded, supportive and accountable and runs in parallel with the strategic theme of ‘Creating a culture of inclusion and excellence’, as described in our Strategy 2020–25.
Why does ONR have a gender pay gap?
The gender pay gap is a different indicator to equal pay, which is the legal requirement that men and women are paid equally for doing the same job under the Equality Act 2010.
Following analysis across pay bands, technical specialisms and corporate functions, ONR is confident that the current gender pay gap does not reflect an equal pay issue.
Instead, it reflects the demographic mix of the workforce and the historical legacy of the industry from which many of our inspectors are drawn.
A lower proportion of girls study science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects at school and then progress these into a career, compared to men. This is particularly demonstrated in the nuclear sector where men therefore embark on more technical and higher grade roles.
Overall, ONR employs a higher percentage of men (63%) than women (37%). The proportion of men employed in higher grades is significantly greater at 71% within the senior grades (Bands 1–3).
In the short term, this disparity will continue to be a contributing factor in ONR’s gender pay gap, but the organisation is implementing long-term strategies that are contributing to an overall reduction.
What is ONR doing to reduce the gender pay gap?
ONR’s ongoing initiatives include:
- ONR’s partnerships across the sector working with the Nuclear Skills Delivery Board (NSDB) to ensure it promotes opportunities for female students to explore maths and science throughout primary and secondary school and encourage them to pursue career paths in STEM.
- Recognising that many women are balancing work and an unpaid caring role, ONR has in place a ‘Carers Passport’ available to all colleagues to enable a carer and their line manager to hold a supportive conversation and document the flexibilities needed to support the carer in combining caring and work.
- Introducing group ‘Listening Circles’ to understand multiple perspectives and foster a sense of belonging and connectedness within a hybrid working environment. ONR wants everyone to feel they belong by developing a truly inclusive culture, making colleagues feel valued, respected, and supported through shared knowledge and understanding.
- Providing name- and gender-anonymous selection and using gender-neutral wording throughout recruitment process to remove unconscious bias at an early stage.
- Sponsoring an annual cohort participating in the industry-wide Nuclear Graduates training programme. To date, more than 34% of the ONR sponsored participants have been women
- Promoting STEM career opportunities for women through ONR's participation in activities in local schools and the STEM Ambassadors programme.
- Establishing ONR’s first female-only Reciprocal Mentoring cohort running alongside a mixed cohort of colleagues from other under-represented groups.
What successes has ONR had so far in reducing the gender pay gap?
- 41% of women were promoted during 2023/24, which is favourable when compared with ONR’s overall female workforce of 37%, indicating women are over-represented in promotion with a grade change.
- ONR is proud of the fact its Board is now 71% female and 23% of its senior leadership roles at SCS to Band 2 are held by women.
- The first cohort of ONR nuclear engineering degree apprentices, 60% of which are women, graduated this year.
- During the last five years (between 2019/20 and 2023/24) ONR’s female workforce has increased by 14%. This compares with its overall headcount which increased by 5% during the same period.