Gender Pay Gap Report

Summary

Maurice Blackburn is Australia’s leading plaintiff law firm. We are proud of being a workplace that embodies the principles of fairness, equity, and inclusivity.

This gender pay gap report is not just a reflection on where we stand today but also a roadmap for the future. It includes:

• An analysis of the median and average (mean) wage differences between our male and female employees,
• Key findings and analysis of the gender pay gap at a Firm level and by job classification,
• Priority areas for further reducing the gender pay gap, and
• Key actions for gender equality as part of our broader diversity and inclusion strategy.

Maurice Blackburn’s gender pay gap is 30.7% based on median total remuneration and 18.9% based on average (mean) total remuneration, for the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) reporting period 2022-23. The pay gap has narrowed across both measures compared to the 2020-21 reporting period.

The two main challenges driving the gender pay gap are the disproportionate number of women in the lower pay quartiles (in legal non-qualified, legal support and shared services support roles) and the under-representation of women in senior Digital and Technology roles, which will be discussed further in this report.

Maurice Blackburn is proud to offer 22 weeks of parental leave and 4 weeks of parental support leave. It is important to note that the WGEA Data Explorer currently states the incorrect minimum number of weeks for employer-funded parental leave that Maurice Blackburn provides.

Introduction

Maurice Blackburn has over 1,000 employees of which 77% are women – something we are very proud of. We have over 50% female representation on the Maurice Blackburn Board, with 6 of the 9 positions held by women. Females at the Firm also occupy 50% or more of roles across all WGEA managerial categories.

We are committed to paying all employees fairly based on their contribution to the Firm and its clients. We have transparent processes in place for pay, reward and promotions.

Gender equality is a key goal of the Firm as outlined in our ‘All In’ Diversity and Inclusion Strategy. The strategy sets out the Firm’s future gender and other equality objectives and how we will achieve them. 

The gender pay gap

At Maurice Blackburn, we recognise and acknowledge the existence of a gender pay gap within our workforce. The below table shows the gaps in terms of average (mean) total remuneration, median total remuneration, average (mean) base salary and median base salary.

Since 2020-21, the gender pay gap for median total remuneration has narrowed by 4.9 percentage points to 30.7%, and the gender pay gap for average (mean) total remuneration has narrowed by 4.0 percentage points to 18.9%.

Findings

Maurice Blackburn has a higher proportion of women than men across every pay quartile. Women outnumber men 8 to 1 in our lower and lower middle pay quartiles.

This distribution skews the average pay for female employees compared to male employees, creating the Firm level pay gap.

By looking at the data in smaller groups and by job classification, further analysis provides us with a better understanding of where the gaps are occurring.

Analysis by job classification

Our job classification structure rewards people for the role they perform based on similar tasks, responsibility and skill requirements. It is designed to mitigate against discrimination based on gender or other attributes. In this structure, salary bands are set for each classification level. There is a start and top point for each salary band and the range allows for an employee to move within the band during their employment and to acknowledge the different roles or experience within a group of employees in a particular classification. 92% of employees are covered by the job classification structure (see below); the remaining 8% of employees are covered by individual agreements.

The following chart shows the average (mean) and median total remuneration gender pay gap by job classification, as of 8 January 2024:

_{* A positive percentage indicates men are paid more on average than women. A negative percentage indicates women are paid more on average than men.}

Challenges

Despite the job classification structure helping to almost eliminate the gender pay gap between female and male lawyers, we are aware there is more work to do in narrowing the pay gap in our Legal Non-Qualified, Legal Support and Shared Services classifications. The two main challenges are:

1. Legal Non-Qualified and Legal Support: Women outnumber men in support areas nearly 9 to 1. The gender imbalance of this part of our workforce reflects occupational and industry-level challenges, where males are often under-represented in administrative and support roles. The Firm recognises it has a role to play in addressing these challenges.
   
   
2. Shared Services: Shared Services include multiple teams such as Marketing, Digital & Technology, People & Culture, Finance, Public Affairs, Response Centre, Transformation, Business Development, Risk, Compliance and Enterprise Services and Word Processing. Within this classification, we have seven levels of salary bands. Over 50% of women in this classification sit within the lower-level salary bands, whereas the majority of men (72%) are in the upper-level salary bands. A key challenge we have is the under-representation of women in Digital & Technology roles, particularly in senior roles within this team. This is also recognised as an occupational and industry-level challenge, as the technology industry is predominately male-dominated.

Action plan to close the gap

To address the two challenges stated above, the Firm has committed to:

• Recruitment campaigns to attract diverse candidates for Legal Non-Qualified, Legal Support and Shared Services support roles, with the aim of achieving a more gender balanced workforce for this part of our business.
• Attracting, hiring, and retaining women in our Digital & Technology team.

We also plan to continue focusing on implementation of key gender equality actions set out in our ‘All In’ Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2024-2026, which include:

• Increase recruitment, selection, and promotion of diverse talent.
• Improve gender composition of our workforce.
• Support for caring, including 22 weeks paid parental leave and paying employer superannuation contributions on the first 12 months of parental leave, including during unpaid leave.
• Embed a flexible working culture, including the majority of our teams working under a ‘hybrid model’.
• Continued recognition as a WGEA Employer of Choice for Gender Equality,
• Prevent gender-based harassment and discrimination, sexual harassment and bullying.
• Continuous review of ‘People & Culture’ policies and processes to eliminate bias.
• Support for employees experiencing domestic and family violence.
• Increase inclusive awareness through education and training.
• Increase leadership accountability, including through key performance indicators for gender equality and targets for senior leaders and managers.
• Increase diversity and inclusion in business and supply chain, and civic and community engagement.
• Drive gender equality change beyond our workplace.

The Firm is committed to providing a great employee experience and narrowing the gender pay gap is an important part of that commitment.