Case studies
Equal pay: Browne Jacobson
Browne Jacobson is one of the largest law firms in the Midlands with regional and national reach through our offices in Birmingham, London and Nottingham. We are over 470 strong with 260 lawyers and 70 partners, supported by a team of professional specialists. We have an established reputation for our commercial, public sector, health and insurance practices.
What did we do and how did we approach it?
We have been conducting an Equal Pay and Diversity Audit on an annual basis for the past nine years. Data from this audit is published by the firm at the end of April in advance of annual pay review process. It is undertaken by the HR Advisor and is sponsored by the Managing Partner, Director of Human Resources and the HR Partners from across the organisation.
The process itself takes approximately one month to complete and involves an internal analysis and the identification of trends across age, demographics and diversity which are then evaluated against market data. Once collated the data is compared to the Annual Statistical Report produced by the Law Society which acts as our benchmark. The comparison informs our approach to pay and progression within the firm and also focuses our attention on the talent pool available for future promotions. Any anomalies uncovered by the audit are investigated and dealt with on a case by case basis in time for the annual pay review.
When completed, a summary report is circulated to the Managing Partner and HR Partners who then cascade the information to the rest of the firm. A report is published online in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Department for Constitutional Affairs so that it can be viewed by the general public as recommended by the Law Society. We believe that this demonstrates our commitment to equality and consistency to both clients and prospective employees.
Why did we do it and what were the business drivers?
Our Equal Pay and Diversity Audit was introduced as part of our 'best practice' approach to people management and our desire to create a strong inclusive culture. We also use this process to demonstrate our commitment to our values and to establish an ethos of trust across the organisation. From a business perspective we regularly produce tenders for public sector clients and find that many of them request information about our approach towards Equal Pay and Diversity.
What did we learn?
Our recommendation to other firms intending to carry out a similar process would be to focus on key priorities for example, ascertain at the outset what you think the challenges are within your organisation and be clear about the purpose and objectives of the audit with regards to what you are trying to achieve. Our top three suggestions are:
- Keep an open mind - there is no guarantee that what you expect at the beginning is reflected in the outcome so be prepared to be flexible and commit to resolve any issues which you may uncover
- Do create an action plan once all of the information has been gathered and measure your progress against it
- Do benchmark against external information, including the Law Society and other market data to ensure that you remain competitive
Impact
Carrying out an Equal Pay and Diversity Audit gives us confidence that we are doing the right things and forms part of our overall approach to business risk management; it also ensures greater parity across different job roles in both support and legal areas of the business. Furthermore, the process helps to keep us competitive in the recruitment market as it maintains our focus on diversity and inclusivity, enabling us to demonstrate through our accreditations (for example Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For and Tommy's Accreditation) that we are a great place to work.