Ratio between highest earner and average earnings of the organisation and definition of ‘lowest paid’
The Authority is required to publish information which expresses as a ratio the difference between the pay of its highest paid employee and the average pay for all other employees. The Authority is also required to publish its own definition of ‘lowest paid’ employees as it applies to the Authority’s workforce.
The Authority has a range of colleagues employed on different conditions of service and this means that it has a range of salary levels. Some colleagues are employed on contracts which are regarded as secondary employment. This means that they are able to undertake their contract in addition to other full-time employment. Specifically, this relates to firefighters who work the ‘on-call’ duty system, providing on-call availability from their home or place of work. These employees generally have full-time work outside the Authority.
The Table below sets out the difference between the pay of the highest paid employee (who is the Chief Executive) when compared to the average pay (total pay divided by the number of employees) of all other employees. The information illustrates that the Chief Executive’s pay is 4.13 times more than the median pay (middle value of all salaries paid) of all other employees on 31 October 2023. Table 2 provides this information:
Table 2: Pay ratio
| Details | Oct-22 | Oct-23 | Degree of Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chief Executive's salary | 163,478 | 169,200 | 3.50% |
| Mean salary | 42,049 | 44,200 | 5.12% |
| Median salary | 38,553 | 40,919 | 6.14% |
| Ratio | 4.24 | 4.13 |
This ratio is calculated by dividing the Chief Executive’s salary by the median salary for other colleagues (excluding overtime).