Equality, diversity, and inclusion and pay gap reporting

On this page:

• Our 2022 EDI report overview
• Our 2022 pay gap report at a glance
• Next steps

As we continue to develop guidance and support for our members to embed a strategic approach to equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) within their organisations, we also recognise that we still have progress to make on our own internal EDI objectives.

This is the first year we are publishing our equality, diversity, and inclusion annual report and pay gap report which outlines how we plan to achieve our own EDI goals.

This is also the first year we are reporting on our internal disability, sexual orientation/identities and trans identities pay gap data.

Our hope is that this will make it easier for our members to hold us accountable and stay up to date with the progress we make on our internal EDI objectives.

You have told us that diversity and inclusion is important to you.

Alongside the resources and guidance we’re providing as part of our member offer – to help our members embed EDI into their organisations and ensure the profession is modern, diverse, and inclusive – we’ve also developed an objective in our 2022-2025 corporate strategy to become an employer of choice to those who want to make a difference.

This objective includes continuing to take steps to ensure our own organisational culture is one where all employees, regardless of who they are or the background they come from, feel a sense of belonging and are able to thrive.

We believe it’s important for our organisation to reflect the profession, and society.

Having a diverse workforce upholds all the work we do for our members.

Our 2022 EDI report overview

Guided by our diversity and inclusion framework, we are publishing our equality, diversity, and inclusion annual report to provide an in-depth review of our EDI activity for the previous business year.

We aim to be transparent about our internal EDI strategy and objectives – publishing this report is one of the steps we are taking to achieve this.

This report is the first under our current internal EDI strategy, led and delivered by our EDI Business Partner who was appointed in September 2021.

It will be the first of many, and we look forward to continuing to share our progress.

Our 2022 pay gap report at a glance

Our ability to analyse our pay gap data is affected by how many members of staff choose to share their demographic data. Staff provide us with this information through our HR management system.

Although only gender pay gap reporting is mandatory, we are committed to reporting pay gap data on:

• ethnicity
• sexual orientation/identities
• trans identities
• disability

We have chosen to share our EDI data in one overall pay gap report and hope it will provide an example to our members on how they may want to approach this within their own organisations.

We have already provided guidance and support to our members for developing their own approaches to reporting on gender and ethnicity pay gaps.

Disability

Our median disability pay gap for 2022 was -3.5%, compared to the national average of 13.8%.

We are encouraged to see that our disability pay gap is significantly lower than the national average.

However, we recognise that we still have work to do to improve disability inclusion within our organisation and look forward to reporting on our progress in the coming years.

Sexual orientation/identity and trans identities

Our median sexual orientation/identities and trans identities pay gap for 2022 was -3.5%.

As reporting in this area isn’t mandatory, there is no national average data for us to compare this to.

We will continue to foster a sense of belonging for our LGBTQ+ colleagues.

Ethnicity

Our median ethnicity pay gap for 2022 was 15.6%.

There is no national average data to compare this to as ethnicity pay gap reporting is not mandatory for organisations in the UK.

Our ethnicity pay gap has increased compared to 2021.

While this is not where we hoped to be, there are a few possible reasons for this increase, one being that the percentage of staff reporting their ethnicity dropped from 88% in 2021 to 79% in 2022.

The staff who did not share their ethnicity in 2022 may have had an impact on the data.

We will be reflecting on the data to determine what actions we can take to decrease our ethnicity pay gap.

Gender

Our median gender pay gap for 2022 was 4.7%, which is lower than the current UK median gender pay gap of 14.9%.

Our median gender pay gap has decreased compared to 2021, where it was 11.3%.

We are pleased to see our gender pay gap decreasing, and will continue our work to address this gap, and others, across our organisation.

Next steps

We will continue to build on the work we have done over the past year to advance equality and inclusion within our organisation and strengthen our commitment to EDI.

We will embed EDI into our business plans and into the performance objectives of individuals and teams across the business – to hold each other accountable and maintain transparency.

We are also taking steps to improve the rate at which our employees disclose their demographic data.

In 2023, we will be conducting a comprehensive review of our employee reward approach. Addressing pay gaps is an explicit aim of this project.

Ian Jeffery, our chief executive, comments: “I am encouraged by the work that has been done to date within the Law Society to embed equality, diversity, and inclusion and the goals that are set in the EDI report to take us to the next stage in our journey.

"EDI is a key part of our corporate strategy, which we believe will make us an employer of choice for people who want to make a difference.

"Our commitment to EDI will also make us a more effective voice for our members, drive excellence in the profession, safeguard the rule of law, and promote access to justice.”