* 22 February 2024 *
For many years, Vasey RSL Care has participated in the Australian Government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) reporting program and supports the public release of gender pay gap data for transparency around equality amongst all genders. To provide context relating to Vasey RSL Care’s gender pay gap results, we are pleased to share our Gender Pay Gap Employer Statement which can be found here.
“We are proud to have a gender balance in senior and management roles that is significantly better than industry average,” says Senior Executive Officer, Tamara Paton, who leads the Human Resources team. “As is typical for organisations in the health sector, Vasey RSL Care has a high proportion of female staff in our care workforce, but once again, our staffing reflects a more gender-equal balance than average.”
Vasey RSL Care senior management positions are filled by 64% female and 36% male staff compared to the average of 72% female and 28% male.
The median gender pay gap at Vasey RSL Care – which is calculated on the remuneration of the mid-range male and female employees – showed a result of 3.7% in favour of men.
“While we would of course like to see a zero median gender pay gap, there’s a reason why the WGEA reports our gap as 3.7%,” says Tamara. “The qualification level for the median male employee in our organisation is a Certificate IV, while for the median female employee it is a Certificate III. Those with a Certificate IV of any gender are on a higher pay level than those with a Certificate III.
Vasey RSL Care’s mean (average) gender pay gap was 12.1% as at 31 March 2023. “For the mean gender pay gap of 12.1%, again, this is not due to any difference in the salaries of staff (of any gender) performing the same role: rather, it is due to the distribution of male and female employees across the organisation.”
At the time of the reporting period (31 March 2023) Vasey RSL Care employed a total of 466 full-time equivalents, with 383 being female and 83 male.
“Caring professions are over-represented by female employees as is typical in the industry, and we have policies in place to monitor gender balance in all areas of the business,” says Tamara.
The organisation ensures that during the recruitment process, skills and values assessments are the drivers for selecting the right candidates, with a minimum of two representatives present for all selection panels. Remuneration is gender-neutral and determined by Enterprise Agreements, relevant Awards and market rates for the roles.
Vasey RSL Care also works to ensure that flexible work arrangements, parental leave, benefits, career development and the workplace culture are equitable across all staff, irrespective of gender.
“We are proud to have staff turnover rates that are 12% below the average at 17% compared to 29% on average,” says Tamara. “The average length of service during 2023 was 7.2 years, which is exceptionally good.”
Vasey RSL Care’s Gender Pay Gap Employer Statement can be found here.