Meath County Council has today published its Gender Pay Gap Report for 2022. The gender pay gap is the difference in the average hourly wage of men and women across a workforce. Employers with more than 250 employees in Ireland are now required to publish their gender pay gap data.
The 2022 report shows a Mean Gender Pay Gap where, on average, males are paid 4.11% more than females. However, the Median Gender Pay Gap shows that the median rate of pay for females is 0.67% higher than the median rate of pay for males.
Publishing the gender pay gap data helps to reinforce the Council’s focus on supporting an open and inclusive workplace at Meath County Council. Chief Executive of the Council, Ms Jackie Maguire commented that “Meath County Council is a place where all employees have the same opportunities for recognition and career development and are treated fairly and equitably at work. We continue to be committed to addressing workplace barriers to equality and creating an open and inclusive workplace community. Many equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives and supports are already in place, and we will continue to work in this area”.
The Council’s Gender Pay Gap report can be viewed at the bottom of this page.
The local authority sector gives people the opportunity to play a key role in the positive development of their county and community. As an employer, Meath County Council is committed to providing a positive and supportive environment for employees. The Council offer flexible and family friendly arrangements, blended working, and great career progression and education opportunities.
Mean and Median
Below is a high-level summary of why there can be variations between mean and median figures:
- The Mean Gender Pay Gap is the difference between the average of all male and female hourly rates
- The Median Gender Pay Gap is the difference between the hourly rates associated with the “middle” male and female
- If the dataset is “normalised” i.e. there are no significant outliers, then the mean is the best indicator of the gap between male and female hourly rates
- If the dataset is “skewed” i.e. there are some significant outliers in terms of rates of pay, then these can skew the mean/average, and a median value is a more suitable indicator of the pay gap
If an organisation has a positive mean and negative median gender pay gap, then that would suggest that the organisation has:
- More males on exceptionally high rates of pay than females
- More males on lower rates of pay than females
- Main concentration of females is above the main concentration of males, so the middle female has a higher rate of pay than the middle male
The video at the below link from CSO provides a good example of the difference between mean and median: https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/in/rrppi/meanvsmedianinformationnote/
