Gender pay gap actually favours women at Majestic Wines

Wine merchant and distribution giant Majestic is one of few companies where women are paid more than men, according to new figures.

Majestic could also consider rethinking its warehouse-style layout (Photo: Majestic)

Women who work at Majestic Wines UK — which also includes brands such as Naked Wines and premier importer Lay & Wheeler, are paid on average 4.2% more than their male counterparts, with hourly rates being 2.3% higher than those for men.

Majestic announced the figures after joining retailers such as Marks and Spencer, Ocado and Tesco in submitting its gender pay gap data to the UK government.

By contrast, women employed by global drinks firm Diageo have an average hourly rate which is 4.1% lower than the salary for men. At retailer Marks and Spencer, women are paid 12.3% less by the hour.

Women also earned more than men when all salaries were taken into account. The median rate for women was 5.5% higher than men in the UK, similar to Diageo, where the median rate for women was also higher by 9.8%, according to figures the drinks company submitted in October last year.

However according to Majestic’s report, an area the company needs to work on is female representation. Globally, around 28% of Majestic’s female recruits are employed in senior and executive roles, according to the data, and just 31% of its workforce are women.

“Majestic Wine’s data is the opposite of the UK average primarily because we employ a larger number of men in our warehouse and delivery roles, reflecting the more manual job types,” said the report.

According to a recent report from the Office for National Statistics, average pay for women is 18.% lower than men across all UK businesses.

The wine merchant said that, while its gender parity is in stark contrast to the rest of the UK, it is working on a number of initiatives to encourage women to apply for jobs at Majestic, including reviewing its maternity leave policy.

Employers with 250 or more staff have been asked to report the gap between what they pay their female and male employees to the Government Equalities Office for the first time this year.

Public sector employers must report by the end of March, while privately listed companies and charities must submit their data by 4th April.