Law Society Group 2021 gender pay gap report
The Law Society Group today published its gender pay gap report for 2021.
The report includes the combined results of the Law Society of England and Wales and the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), which operates independently.
Our 2021 median pay gap between men and women is 11.3%, lower than the current UK median pay gap of 15.4% (Office of National Statistics 2021*). The mean group pay gap between women and men is 11.5%.
The 2021 group median bonus gap is -3.4% – with a mean bonus gap of 23.2%.
A Law Society Group spokesperson said: “As a group, the slight decrease in the median pay gap from last year is predominantly caused by a shift in percentage between male and female in both the lower middle and lower quartiles.
“There are various bonus schemes operating throughout the Law Society Group. For the first year since we started reporting, the median bonus gap is inverse, with the proportion of females receiving a bonus exceeding the proportion of males.
“Around 61% of our workforce is female, with women continuing to be well represented across all pay quartiles.
“There is, however, still work to be done to ensure the gender balance in the upper middle and top quartiles better reflects the gender split in the rest of the group.”
Notes to editors
* According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2021 UK median pay gap was 15.4%. View the research.
Within the Law Society Group there are two organisations which operate independently: the Law Society of England and Wales, the professional body for solicitors; and the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), the regulator of solicitors and law firms in England and Wales.
As of April 2022, the Law Society and the SRA will be reporting their gender pay gap as two separate entities.
The Law Society Group report is based on hourly rates of pay during the pay period ending 25 April 2021 and bonuses paid in the year up to 5 April 2021.
About the Law Society
The Law Society is the independent professional body that works globally to support and represent solicitors, promoting the highest professional standards, the public interest and the rule of law.
Press office contact: Naomi Jeffreys | 020 8049 3928
About the SRA
The SRA is the regulator of solicitors and law firms in England and Wales, protecting consumers and supporting the rule of law and the administration of justice. The SRA does this by overseeing all education and training requirements necessary to practise as a solicitor, licensing individuals and firms to practise, setting the standards of the profession and regulating and enforcing compliance against these standards. Further information is available at sra.org.uk.