Pay Gap Report 2025
Contents 2 Pay gap report – 5 April 2024 3 Gender pay gap Gender bonus gap Gender pay gap progression over time Our people Understanding our gender pay gap 7 Ethnicity pay gaps Ethnicity bonus pay gap Ethnicity pay gaps comparison to last year Our people Understanding our Ethnicity pay gaps 10 Disability pay gap Disability bonus pay gap Disability pay gap comparison to last year Our people Understanding our disability pay gap 13 Our commitment Our Action Plan
Pay gap report – 5 April 2024
This report contains the British Library’s pay gaps for gender, ethnicity
and disability based on snapshot data on 5 April 2024.
All information has been calculated and reported in accordance with
government guidelines.
Two years ago we eliminated our gender
pay gap and I’m pleased that this year’s
median figure of 0.2% effectively
maintains that position. We are proud to
have created a culture and organisation
where the work of women is recognised
fully and fairly.
We are similarly committed to reducing
and eliminating the pay gaps relating to
ethnicity and disability, and are publishing
these figures for the second time this
year. The current pay gaps affecting these
groups of colleagues are unacceptable and
I’d like to renew the Library’s commitment
to eliminating these inequities. From our
experience delivering sustained reductions
in the gender pay gap, we know that this
kind of benchmarking is vital for making
ourselves transparent and accountable,
and for galvanising positive change across
the organisation.
By voluntarily publishing our pay gap
figures for ethnicity and disability we are
highlighting where change is necessary
and urgent, and will be able to track over
time the progress we need to make. In
this report we include action plans to
address all of the pay gaps (p.15), which
include investing in career opportunities
and leadership, and ensuring that tailored
support and development are made
available.
Through these measures, and also by
improving the data we gather on the
different pay gaps, we’ll deliver concrete
and sustainable progress in making the
Library a rewarding, fair and fully inclusive
place to work for everyone.
Rebecca Lawrence, the British
Library’s Chief Executive, said:
Richard Davies, the British Library’s
Interim Director of People, said:
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Gender pay gap
The gender pay gap is the percentage difference between
the median (or mean) hourly pay of men and women in
an organisation.
Gender pay gap
On average women members of staff earn
99.80p for every £1 that men earn.
Gender bonus gap
At the time of the snapshot, three employees at the most
senior level (two men and one woman) were entitled to
a bonus payment in accordance with the terms of their
contracts. One senior leader opted to not take their bonus
resulting in a 100% mean gender bonus pay gap.
2024 2023 Men receiving a bonus 0.29% 0.29% Women receiving a bonus 0% 0% 0.2% Median 2.91% Mean Median 2024: 100% 2023: 100% Mean 2024: 100% 2023: 100% 3
Gender pay gap progression over time Median Mean 7.00% 6.00% 5.00% 4.00% 3.00% 2.00% 1.00% 0.00% 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 1.81% 6.22% 0.35% 3.89% 2.04% 5.93% 1.86% 5.12% 2.29% 0.21% 2.33% 2.25% 0% 1.89% 0.20% 2.91% 4 Gender pay gap
Our people
This is a snapshot of the British Library’s whole organisation
demographics broken down by gender.
Women
Men
Percentage of men and women in each quartile
Quartiles are calculated by dividing the workforce into four equal-sized groups
and show the proportion of men and women in each quartile band, quartile one
being the lowest earning and quartile four being the highest earning.
Q1 Q2
Q3 Q4
56%
44%
56%
56%
44%
44%
57%
43%
55%
45%
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Understanding our gender pay gap
This year the British Library median gender pay gap has increased to 0.20% from
0% in 2023. The mean gender pay gap has increased slightly by 0.66% to 2.91%
from 2.25% in 2024. This is within a variance that is to be expected with the
median pay gap remaining very close to our target of 0%.
Contributing to the slight increase is the upper quartile (Q4) which contains the
staff paid the highest salaries in the Library. This quartile contains outliers in the
data, which comprises men whose salaries sit further beyond the average salary
of men and therefore increases the mean percentage. These outliers are our most
senior roles and specialists across the organisation.
We are nevertheless pleased that we have remained so close to our target of 0%
and remain absolutely committed to achieving and maintaining gender equality.
National and sector figures
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has reported its provisional gender pay
gap figures for 2024. The national median pay gap for full time and part time staff
is 13.1% (14.2% in 2023), and the mean is 13.8% (13.2% in 2023). The ONS
also produce breakdown by industry. The report indicates that ‘Libraries, archives,
museums and other cultural activities’ sector have a median pay gap of 7.1% (2.6%
in 2023), and a mean pay gap of 6.5% (7.3% in 2023), meaning the British Library
is lower in both median and mean than the sector average.
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Ethnicity pay gaps
The ethnicity pay gap is the percentage difference between the median (or mean)
average hourly pay of employees in different ethnic groups. For the British Library’s
ethnicity pay calculations, we have calculated the average percentage earnings for
our Asian and Black colleagues relative to our white colleagues. This gives us two
separate pay gaps – one for each ethnic group.
5.65%
Median
6.14%
Mean
Ethnicity bonus pay gap
Bonuses do not make up a significant component of employee pay at the British Library.
Only three senior employees were entitled to a bonus payment, in accordance with the
terms of their specific contracts. Due to the sensitive nature of this data and the significantly
low data size we are unable to share this information.
Asian pay gap
On average Asian members
of staff earn 94.35p
for every £1 that white
members of staff earn.
12.76%
Median
16.93%
Mean
Black pay gap
On average Black members
of staff earn 87.24p
for every £1 that white
members of staff earn.
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5.33%
3.95% Median
Mean Asian pay gap 2023 13.03%
16.08% Median
Mean Black pay gap 2023
Our people
This is a snapshot of the British Library’s whole organisation demographics broken
down by high-level ethnic groups.
12%
23%
65%
Proportion of ethnic groups in each quartile
Quartiles are calculated by dividing the workforce into four equal-sized groups
and show the proportion of each ethnicity grouping in each quartile band,
quartile 1 being the lowest earning and quartile 4 being the highest earning.
Q1 Q2
Q3 Q4
Asian
Black
Mixed
Other Ethnic group
Unknown
White
8%
10%
71%
6%
2%
3%
11%
69%
7%
3%
3%
8%
10%
72%
4% 2%
4%
6%
7%
80%
3%
2%
2%
9%
13%
63%
10%
2%
3%
7%
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Understanding our Ethnicity pay gaps
This is the second year that the British Library has reported our ethnicity pay gaps.
Disappointingly, we do have pay gaps for both our Asian and our Black colleagues
which we are working hard to eliminate. Reporting ethnicity pay gaps is voluntary
and it is difficult to identify an appropriate benchmark in our industry or our sector,
however, we are internally benchmarking our progress which can be seen alongside
this year’s data on page 7 comparing this year’s figures with last year’s.
There has been a very slight increase (0.32%) in the Asian pay gap compared
to 2023 from 5.33% to 5.65% in 2024.
There has been a slight increase in Asian representation from 7% to 8% across
the organisation. The lower middle (Q2) and upper middle (Q3) quartiles of the
organisation are driving both the median and mean pay gaps. This means the Asian
pay gap is most prevalent in the middle and middle senior levels of the organisation.
There has been a very slight decrease (0.27%) in the Black pay gap compared
to 2023 from 13.03% to 12.76% in 2024.
Representation of Black colleagues remains the same as 2023 at 6% across the
organisation. There is a lack of representation of Black colleagues in the upper
quartiles at 4% in Q3 and 3% in Q4, which is the main driver of the Black pay
gap. This means that the Black pay gap is most prevalent in the middle senior
and senior levels of the organisation.
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Disability pay gap
The disability pay gap is the percentage difference between the
median (or mean) hourly pay of employees who are disabled and
employees who are non-disabled.
Disability pay gap
On average members of staff with
disabilities earn 88.53p for every £1 that
members of staff without disabilities earn.
Disability bonus pay gap
Bonuses do not make up a significant component of employee
pay at the British Library. Only three senior employees were
entitled to a bonus payment, in accordance with the terms of their
specific contracts. Due to the sensitive nature of this data and the
significantly low data size we are unable to share this information.
11.47%
Median
7.09%
Mean
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4.20%
5.15% Median
Mean Disability pay gap 2023
Our people This is a snapshot of the British Library’s whole organisation demographics broken down by disability status. Disabled Unknown Non-disabled 12% 23% 65% Proportion of Disabled and Non-Disabled employees in each pay quartile Quartiles are calculated by dividing the workforce into four equal-sized groups and show the proportion of disabled and non-disabled staff in each quartile band, quartile 1 being the lowest earning and quartile 4 being the highest earning. 12% 33% 55% 15% 24% 61% 10% 18% 72% 11% 17% 72% Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 11
Understanding our disability pay gap
This is the second year that the British Library has reported our disability pay gap.
Disappointingly, the pay gap for colleagues with disabilities has increased and we
will be working hard to eliminate this through our action plan. Reporting a disability
pay gap is voluntary and it is difficult to identify an appropriate benchmark in our
industry or our sector, however, we are internally benchmarking our progress which
can be seen alongside this year’s data on page 11 comparing this year’s figures with
last year’s.
There has been an increase (7.27%) in the disability pay gap compared to
2023 from 4.20% to 11.47% in 2024.
The representation of disabled colleagues within the whole organisation has not
changed from last year’s report – remaining at 12%. The number of staff who
have chosen to not declare/not answered also remains the same at 23% compared
to last year. This percentage is impacting the accuracy of overall figures, and as we
increase our efforts in improving declaration rates this could potentially mean the
pay gap will see large fluctuations as we gain a more accurate understanding.
One of the reasons the pay gap has increased is due to higher representation of
disabled staff in quartile 2 – which is the lower middle pay band. Another reason
for the increase in the pay gap is due to non-disabled staff are on average being
paid more in the upper quartile (4). This means that the pay gap is most prevalent
in the middle and upper levels of the organisation.
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Our commitment
We are committed to eliminating the disability and ethnicity pay gaps by 2030 and
retaining a consistent 0% gender pay gap. To do this we will be monitoring our
progress on an annual basis by publishing all of our pay gaps and taking action to not
only eliminate pay gaps but improve all aspects of working life at the British Library.
Gender
• Fostering a flexible working
environment where staff and
candidates are supported with
different ways of working
• Improving and introducing
new family friendly guidance
as part of our policy renewal
programme, including
guidance on menstruation
(periods), fertility treatment
and pregnancy loss
• Introducing trans-inclusion
guidance for staff and
managers and fostering an
inclusive culture where all
staff feel comfortable sharing
their gender identity with us
• Improving our menopause
awareness and support for
staff and managers
• Introducing sexual
harassment guidance and
training for both staff and
managers.
Ethnicity
• Investing in career
development opportunities
for Asian, Black, mixed race
and other ethnically diverse
colleagues
• Investing in specific leadership
development workshops on
race and senior leader impact
• Continuing to implement our
Race Equality Action Plan
across the organisation
• Continuing to work towards
the seven calls to action set
within the Race at Work
Charter
• Continuing our reciprocal
mentoring scheme for
Strategic Leaders and Black,
Asian, mixed race and other
ethnically diverse colleagues.
Disability
• Investing in career
development opportunities
for disabled colleagues
• Investing in specific leadership
development workshops on
disability and senior leader
impact
• Organising disability
awareness sessions for both
staff and managers covering
a range of topics
• Implementing ‘reasonable
adjustment’ passports at the
British Library
• Continuing to work towards
becoming a Disability
Confident Leader and
implementing the associated
actions
• Carrying out research to
gain feedback from people
with disabilities about their
experiences at work and
making improvements.
All
• Improving our data monitoring and disclosure rates for protected characteristics in order to
generate more specific and targeted analysis of experiences
• Implementing the recommendations from the inclusive recruitment review to remove barriers
for applicants and improve experiences
• Continuing our early careers training placements providing opportunities for disabled people,
people from lower socio-economic backgrounds, Black, Asian, Mixed Race and other ethnically
diverse people entering the sector
• Continuing to embed diversity and inclusion in all new training programmes
• Continuing to collaborate and work with Trade Union colleagues and our staff networks.
Our Action Plan
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Our Action Plan
Key Information
A pay gap is not the same
as unequal pay
Unequal pay means that employees performing
equal work, or work of equal value, are not
receiving equal pay – which is unlawful.
A pay gap is a measure of the difference
between one group’s average earnings across an
organisation as a whole over a period of time,
regardless of role or seniority. It is not a like-
for-like comparison of employees of different
gender, ethnicities, or disability. This means that
although we have a fair pay and reward policy,
and equal pay, we may still have a pay gap
Mean and median explained
The mean and median are different ways of
calculating the average of a dataset and are used
to calculate pay gaps. Both are used as they tell
us different things about the data. The mean or
mathematical average is worked out by adding
all the data values together and dividing by
the total number of values in the data set. The
median is the positional average. It is found by
ordering all values (in a data set) in numerical
order and finding the middlemost value.
The advantage of the median over the mean
is that the mean is affected by any outliers
in the data set (such as a very small or large
value), whereas the median looks for the value
‘positioned’ in the middle of the data set.
Therefore, we lead with the median figure.
Terminology
We use the data recommended by the
government to calculate the gender pay gap.
However, we recognise that not all our staff
will identify as men or women. In recent years
we have encouraged staff to share their gender
identity with us including non-binary and trans
staff in this data capture. Our action plan aims to
ensure gender equity among all staff including
women, non-binary, and trans staff.
We have calculated the ethnicity pay gaps based
on the list of high-level ethnic groups as found
on the 2021 census and recommended by the
Ethnicity facts and figures guidance on gov.uk.
These are ‘Asian or Asian British’, ‘Black, Black
British, Caribbean or African’, ‘mixed or multiple
ethnic groups’, ‘other ethnic group’ and ‘white’.
This contrasts with using terms such as ‘BAME’
(Black Asian and minority ethnic) and calculating
only one pay gap.
By reporting on separate Asian and Black
pay gaps we aim to highlight the different
experiences of these groups and therefore
develop more targeted and effective measures
to address each of these gaps.
Statistical robustness
The government recommends any group needs
a minimum of 50 individuals to be reported on
as a separate category. This ensures anonymity
of data – ethnicity and disability are a protected
category of data under GDPR, and we have a
duty under the law to protect this data. It also
allows for statistical validity, meaning that there
are enough data points within the overall data
set to trust the results.
Due to this statistical robustness, there are only
two ethnic groups that we can draw a pay gap
for; Asian or Asian British and Black, Black British,
Caribbean or African. This has also meant that we
have grouped disability categories into one overall
category to calculate the disability pay gap.
The individual categories that contribute to the
disability pay gap are:
Long term chronic/
progressive conditions
Hearing
Learning
Mental health
Mobility
Neurodiverse
Other
Physical
Speech
Sensory
Visual
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