Worst gender pay gap companies revealed

A company that has a 73.1 per cent pay gap in favour of men has revealed what’s going on.

Company-level gender pay gap data rocked corporate Australia this week but the worst offenders are businesses most Aussies have never heard of.

According to the government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), which is responsible for calculating and publishing the figures, the median gender pay gap on a base salary measure is 14.5 per cent, while on a total remuneration level it’s 19 per cent.

Brenda Ryan, CEO of Hunter Primary Care said the company has a “unique workforce makeup”.

Topping the list of more than 5000 Australian employers with 100 or more workers is Hunter Primary Care, which provides NDIS, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, mental health, after hours and primary care services to NSW’s Newcastle and Hunter Valley region.

It had a pay gap of 73.1 per cent in favour of men on both a median base salary measure and a median total remuneration measure.

But its CEO Brenda Ryan said the WGEA’s methodology “skews the data for Hunter Primary Care, which has a unique workforce makeup”.

WGEA annualises the earnings of casual and part-time employees into full-time salaries, and Hunter Primary Health has a large proportion of casual GPs who are men.

“Of our 461 employees, 173 employees are GPs engaged on a casual basis in the GP Access after hours service. On average, they work one, four hour, shift per month,” Ms Ryan said.

“More than half (57 per cent) of our GP Access GPs are male, and they make up 50 per cent of our male workforce.”

Ms Ryan said that as a result, the company’s median annualised male full-time equivalent total remuneration is “a very high figure”, reflecting their work as doctors.

She added that when casual GPs are excluded, the company’s gender pay gap figure drops to two per cent.

A more familiar household name, battery maker Energizer Australia, was the second worst-performing company on the list, with a pay gap of 66.1 per cent in favour of men on a median base salary measure and 64.9 per cent on a median total remuneration measure.

Battery company Energizer didn’t reply to news.com.au’s questions about its gender pay gap.

The US headquartered company, which sells Energizer and Eveready batteries, didn’t respond to news.com.au request for comment.

WA-based trucking and construction equipment company C. F. C Holdings had the third biggest gender pay gap on a total remuneration basis, of 64.2 per cent, and ranked fourth worst on a base salary measure with a gender pay gap of 61.6 per cent.

The company didn’t respond to questions from news.com.au, but a spokesperson told The West Australian that the company had “processed the data incorrectly”.

“The figures reported for C. F. C Holdings relate to only one subsidiary business within the C. F. C Group businesses and unfortunately, we processed the data incorrectly and should have recorded a 22 per cent gap on base pay and 31 per cent for total remuneration,” the company said.

The spokesperson added that the group’s workforce was largely men who work “in either remote locations and or with large amounts of overtime and job allowances”, which also impacted its gender pay gap figures.

Based on the data it submitted to the WGEA, C. F. C Holding’s employs more men than women across all pay levels.

Adelaide-based Corporate Health Group, which provides occupational health services to employers, recorded a median base salary gender pay gap of 61.5 per cent and a median total remuneration gender pay gap of 61.8 per cent, making it the fifth worst company on both measures.

Its CEO, Kay Neill, told news.com.au that the company’s figures are “significantly skewed by the fact we currently employ more male medical practitioners who, by the nature of their role, responsibilities, and qualifications command higher salaries”.

“We continue to work on actively recruiting more female medical practitioners including working closely with the Australian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine on a mentoring program and offering more flexible working hours.”

Kay Neill, CEO of Corporate Health Group said their figures were skewed due to employing more men.

The gender pay gap measures the difference in median base salary earnings between women and men, converting part-time and casual salaries to full-time equivalent earnings, while the total remuneration gap includes base salaries, superannuation, overtime, bonuses, and other additional payments.

WGEA considers a gender pay gap of five per cent, in favour of either males or females as neutral.

The gender pay gap isn’t the same as women and men being paid equally for the same, or a comparable job, which is called equal pay and a failure to pay equally in these circumstances is illegal.

Other notable gender pay gaps were recorded by IT recruiter Whizdom, which recorded a base salary gender pay gap of 63.1 per cent, which was the fourth highest on that measure, however its total remuneration gender pay gap was a slightly lower 58.8 per cent, which was the ninth worst.

Finance company Euroz Hartleys Group recorded a total remuneration gender pay gap of 61.9 per cent, which ranked it fourth worst, but its base salary gap was only 24 per cent, indicating that the bulk of bonuses and overtime pay go to male employees.

More than 200 companies also failed to comply with the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 by not submitting their gender pay gap report to WGEA on time.

General Motors Holden, the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, Kennards Self Storage, My Muscle Chef, Jenny Craig Weight Loss Centres, Thrifty Car Rentals, The Body Shop, Lonely Planet, Statewide Super, Bevilles Jewellers, United Petroleum, Tupperware Australia and Hill’s Pet Nutrition are among the well known names on that list.