Gender Pay Gap legislation, under the Equality Act 2010, requires an employer with 250 employees or more to publish their gender pay gap.

Due to Coronavirus (COVID-19), enforcement of reporting deadlines did not apply to employers in the 2019/20 reporting year

This information is based on hourly rates at the snapshot of 5th April 2020.

The ‘mean’ calculation considers basic average pay/bonus across all of our employees, whereas the ‘median’ calculation focuses on those employees in the middle of pay/bonus ranges.

The gender pay gap shows the difference between average male and female pay for the company, regardless of their role, which means that the gender distribution across all levels of the company will have a significant impact on the gap.

The Gender Pay Gap report is an opportunity to check the equity of our average pay for men and women across the whole organisation. It’s important that it’s not confused with equal pay, which compares the pay rates for the same or similar types of work. There are many reasons why a business may have a gender pay gap, but it does not necessarily indicate that men and women are paid differently for the same type of work. We remain committed to equal pay for equal work and equal opportunity for all.

Pay quartiles

Pay quartiles are calculated by listing the pay rates from lowest to highest, before splitting them into four equal sized groups. The proportion of males and females employees that appear in each group is then calculated.

99% of our population are women and at the time of data capture, you can see that the majority of men are represented in the upper and upper middle quartile. The reason for this is that all the men were in Head Office roles, in positions which attract higher rates of pay such as IT, and Supply Chain.

Understanding our data

We are a womenswear, female founded business who believe in cultivating and promoting our best talent. Our gender statistics show that our workforce is overwhelmingly female (99%) and 100% of our leadership team are women. At the point of our data capture, Mint Velvet’s only men worked within our Head Office team in roles which attract a higher salary due to the difference in the skillset and experience required.

The clothing retail sector continues to be a predominantly female–occupied industry and paves the way for roles which support women to achieve the flexibility which they need and desire. 84% of our retail colleagues are in part time roles, made possible by the type of work and how we run our stores. The majority of our employees are in sales assistant roles, and these reasons explain a large part of why we see a gender pay gap across our entire population.

Gender bonus gap

Everyone has an equal opportunity to receive bonus pay.

This information is based on the 12 month reference period up until 5th April 2020.

The gender bonus gap is a measure of the difference in bonus payments between men and women across the whole organisation, regardless of their role, location or bonus scheme set up.

In 2019/20, no bonus was paid to any male employee, as no Head Office bonuses were paid. This therefore results in no Gender Bonus Gap figure to be reported.

Note from our CEO and founder, Liz Houghton

As we report on our gender pay statistics for a third year, we continue to be committed to ensuring Mint Velvet remains a brilliant place to work, with amazing talent and culture at the heart of what we do. It’s imperative that we make our culture outstanding - diverse, open, fair and inclusive. I believe this will help us to get the very best from and for our employees and, in turn, create the best possible experience for our customers.

We have clear values and behaviours as a brand which are distinctive to us, whilst giving plenty of space to be an individual. We want everyone to feel that they belong here, and that they are valued for the work that they do. As a key part of this we are committed to ensuring that everyone receives pay that is reflective of the role that they are employed to do and the experience that they bring, regardless of their gender, ethnicity, age, religion, disability or any other factor.

We are proud to be a female dominated business; a business founded by women for women. We know that this will continue to stay at the heart of our brand.

We will continue to do the best we can across our employee lifecycle. This is from ensuring that pay is fair for all roles, that our brand remains diverse and inclusive, and empowering everyone to step outside their comfort zones by offering year-round career coaching and internal progression opportunities.

This statement confirms that the published information is accurate at the time of publishing and is signed by Liz Houghton, Chief Executive Officer.

Gender Pay Gap legislation, under the Equality Act 2010, requires an employer with 250 employees or more to publish their gender pay gap.

Gender Pay Gap

This information is based on hourly rates at the snapshot date of 5th April 2018.

The "mean" calculation considers basic average pay/bonus across all of our employees, whereas the "median" calculation focusses on those employees in the middle of pay/bonus ranges.

The gender pay gap shows the difference between average male and female pay across the company, regardless of their role, which means that the gender distribution across all levels of the company will have a significant impact on the gap.

This is different to a comparison of equal pay, which compares the rates of pay for people working in the same or equivalent roles. We remain committed to equal pay for equal work and equal opportunity for all.

What Lies Behind The Numbers?

As a women’s fashion retailer there continues to be a strong gender bias within our company, with 98.7% female employees. The highest proportion of our workforce, 54%, are female employees working in part-time roles in our stores and receiving the same hourly rate of pay. As the company continues to grow, we have seen a small increase in the number of male employees from 8 to 10, across both retail and Head Office. However, the majority of male employees continue to be based in Head Office, where salaries are higher than in the retail stores which creates the pay gap.

Mint Velvet is committed to providing equal pay for equivalent roles and ensuring that women are represented at all levels of the business. Our senior leadership team is 88.9% female, with 33% working part-time. For our part-time female employees working in our stores, we are committed to paying them, the national living wage, as a minimum, regardless of age. We continue to support internal succession from our retail stores to Head office, through our development process and by offering work experience opportunities at Head Office.

Bonus Pay Gap

This information is based on the 12 month reference period up until 5th April 2018.

The gender bonus gap is a measure of the difference in bonus payments between men and women across the whole organisation, regardless of their role, location or bonus scheme.

Our bonus pay gap again reflects the structure of the organisation, where 73.4% of our total workforce is female, working part-time within our stores, while our male employees are in full time roles in Head Office. That said, this year we have seen an increase in the number of female employees who have received bonus.

Whilst we continually review our policies, we are confident that we offer a fair, flexible and inclusive place to work, with a fair and transparent recruitment process to ensure the right person is appointed to the role. We also continue to promote our flexible working and Shared Parental leave policies to all of our employees.

Our commitment is to offer our employees a progressive, supportive and flexible place to work.

This statement confirms that the published information is accurate at the time of publishing and is signed by Liz Houghton, Chief Executive Officer.

Gender Pay Gap legislation, under the Equality Act 2010, requires an employer with 250 employees or more to publish their gender pay gap.

As a company founded for women, by women, Mint Velvet is committed to equal pay, informed by market rates, for equivalent roles across our business. As a premium womenswear retailer, we predominately attract female applicants to our roles, from many backgrounds and nationalities, resulting in a strong gender bias within our business.

Gender Pay Gap

This information is based on hourly rates at the snapshot date of 5th April 2017.

The gender pay gap is a measure of the difference in average hourly rates of pay between men and women across the whole organisation, regardless of their role and it can be driven by the different number of men and women across all roles in the organisation. This is different to a comparison of equal pay, which compares the rates of pay for people working in the same or equivalent roles.

The low mix of male employees across our business (1.2%), combined with the highest proportion of our workforce, represented by females working part-time and receiving the same hourly rate of pay, in our stores, has resulted in the gender pay gap figures indicating that male employees are paid a higher average hourly rate. We only have two male employees working part-time in our stores and the remaining six male employees, are in roles in Head Office, which attract a higher salary.

This combination of an overwhelmingly female workforce, the majority of whom work in our stores, the majority of our male employees based at Head Office and the different pay structures for Retail and Head Office have created a pay gap.

As a business, however, we are confident that women and men are paid equally for doing equivalent roles and that female employees are represented across all levels of the business. We also offer flexible working across the business, which increases opportunities available to our employees. Our senior leadership team is 85.7% female with 30% working part-time.

Gender bonus gap

All employees have an equal opportunity to receive bonus pay.

This information is based on the 12 month reference period up until 5th April 2017.

The gender bonus gap is a measure of the difference in bonus payments between men and women across the whole organisation, regardless of their role, location or bonus scheme set up.

Our bonus pay gap again reflects the structure of the organisation, where 71.2% of our total workforce is female, working part-time within our stores, while the majority of our male employees are in full time roles in Head Office.

We remain committed to ensuring our policies and opportunities are fair and inclusive. We continue to offer flexible working, including shared parental leave, which encourage women back into the workplace and through employee development, enable employees to realise their potential.

This statement confirms that the published information is accurate at the time of publishing and is signed by Liz Houghton, Chief Executive Officer.