Verastar has seen a further drop in its median gender pay gap result to 3.3% from last year’s figure of 4.2%, far below the national average of 14.3%.
Lee Hull, CEO at Verastar comments: “Continuous focus on gender equality improvement over the past 12 months has paid off yet again and I am delighted to report that our median gender pay result is now 3.3% vs the UK national average of 14.3%. This is a significant improvement against our result from the previous year when our pay gap was 4.2%. This result reflects our continued focus on recruiting and rewarding the best people irrespective of gender.”
At this time, Verastar employed 778 colleagues across England and Scotland to deliver services including telecoms, energy and water to over 135,000 small business customers.
Hull continues: “Our mean pay result has remained steady at around 6.3%, and again is below the national average of 7.7%. All the changes we’ve been making to ensure our workplace is accessible, inclusive, and free from bias have delivered this fantastic result and we’ll continue to drive this down even further.”
In its sixth Gender Pay Report last year, Verastar set out a number of commitments that were felt could improve the experience and reduce the gap and these figures reported today demonstrate that they have done just that.
Initiatives such as: flexible working review – more flexibility in working hours and the introduction of a career break policy; updated Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy including an anti-bullying and harassment module; the creation of a data source tracking gender split for leavers, internal moves and engagement; regular internal roadshows to showcase different teams and roles across the business; a number of open discussions across the business to facilitate a menopause support network and provision of free sanitary products across all sites.
The company also recently held its second ‘Celebrating Women at Work’ event following International Women’s Day (#IWD) on Friday 8th March.
Over 100 colleagues of all genders took part in the online forum discussing key topics including ‘the mental load’, imposter syndrome and fertility issues such as endometriosis and specifically, how they can impact workplace performance.
Customer Care Director and key driver of the event Stacey Clarke commented: “Absolutely thrilled that we had yet another fantastic turnout for this event. By sharing our stories we’re encouraging open discussions that are helping to shape the workplace experience for all colleagues.
“Although the event was originally intended to shine a light on women on our workplace, it delivered much more than that. It gave a unique insight to how we can all make small changes to create a happier, healthier and more inclusive environment.”
Last year’s event resulted in the introduction of a Menopause at Work policy, an enhanced Parental Leave policy and also the introduction of a Career Break policy by the company for its 750-plus colleagues.
