Clifford Chance breaks ranks with magic circle to include partners in its gender pay gap figures
Clifford Chance has included its partner pay in its gender pay gap report, the first magic circle law firm to do so.
The firm revealed today that it had a mean hourly pay gap of 66.3 per cent, falling to 27.3 per cent in its partnership ranks, 27.7 per cent among its business services staff and just 3.9 per cent at associate level.
The move is significant as partnerships are not required by the government’s gender pay gap legislation to include details of partner pay in their reporting.
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UK managing partner at Clifford Chance Michael Bates said: “For us, it is about doing the right thing. Whilst including our partnership in adjusted results shows a larger gender pay gap than the data from the statutory reporting requirements, our decision to publish these figures demonstrates our commitment to closing the gap and accelerating the pace of change of our gender demographic at every level.”
Bates also called on other firms to follow Clifford Chance’s lead and asked the government to provide guidance on how partnership firms should best publish partner pay data.
“We hope the government will provide greater clarity going forward on the inclusion of partner data, and that other professional services firms will demonstrate their commitment to addressing gender issues by adopting an equally transparent approach,” he said.
Clifford Chance’s magic circle rivals Slaughter and May, Allen & Overy, Linklaters and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have all refused to include partner numbers in their pay gap reports.
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Clifford Chance’s statutory report showed a gender pay gap of 20.3 percent and a bonus gap of 50.3 per cent.
In comparison Linklaters report showed men were paid 23 per cent more on an hourly basis and 58 per cent more in bonuses, Slaughters paid men 14.3 per cent more on an hourly basis with a bonus gap of 33.3 percent, Allen & Overy revealed that men are paid an average of 19.8 per cent more than women and average bonuses for men are 42.1 per cent higher.
Freshfields gave the results for its services company which is a separate legal entity from the limited liability partnership (LLP) which its partners are members of. Its LLP did not have the requisite 250 employees that meant it must comply with the legislation.
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Freshfields services company had a mean pay gap of 13.9 per cent with a 41 per cent bonus gap.
Law firms argue that their pay gap is so high because many of the lower paid jobs such as secretaries are traditionally filled by women, while many of the lower paid jobs traditionally carried out by men, such as security and post-room staff, have been outsourced, skewing the figures.
Pressure has been building on professional services firms to publish their partner pay data following calls from leading figures such as Lloyd’s of London chief executive Inga Beale and Treasury Committee Chair Nicky Morgan for greater transparency.
Morgan criticised professional services firms for using an apparent “loophole” to skew their gender pay data, “abiding by the letter of the law, but not the spirit”.
Big four accountants Deloitte, EY, PwC and KPMG have all since moved to include partners in their reports.
On Sunday law firm Pinsent Masons updated its previously published gender pay gap figures to include partners, revealing a mean gender pay gap of 58 per cent and a mean bonus gap of 52 per cent.
Originally Pinsents had approached a number of other firms asking them to release their figures in tandem, releasing its statutory figures in February alongside law firms Bird & Bird and Taylor Wessing.
The firm’s senior partner Richard Foley said: “Since publishing our numbers we have become increasingly concerned by a perception that in following regulations designed to promote transparency partnerships have somehow avoided their responsibilities.”
Only three other major law firms have included partner numbers in their gender pay gap reporting: Norton Rose Fulbright, Reed Smith and Irwin Mitchell.
All UK organisations employing more than 250 people must publish their gender pay gap data by 4 April.