Dignity Funerals Ltd Gender pay gap report 2024

The gender pay gap measures the differences in rates of pay and bonus that women and men receive, irrespective of their role or level within the company.

The gap is shown as the difference between women's and men's pay as a percentage of men's pay. This is different from equal pay, which refers to the pay difference between men and women doing the same role.

Our ambition is to be the most inspirational and rewarding employer. We believe that our colleagues are our strategic differentiator, and we therefore commit to providing an environment where they are treated fairly and equitably.

We believe in nurturing talent from within, and our aim is to provide all colleagues with the tools and support to reach their full potential.

As a business, we continually welcome new talent. Every role is benchmarked before recruitment takes place, to make sure our pay is both competitive and reflective of the needs of the role.

In 2024 we continued our commitment to being a real living wage employer, making sure that everyone across the organisation, regardless of gender, was paid a wage reflective of the economic environment we find ourselves in.

Further work was undertaken in 2024 to introduce new minimum rates of pay and bring greater consistency across the most common roles within our operation.

This is our gender pay gap report for 2024. It covers colleagues employed by Dignity Funerals Limited and has been compiled in line with the regulations set out by the UK Government.

The figures are taken from the snapshot date in April 2024. The pay gap relates to 4,007 colleagues, a decrease from 4,083 in our 2023 report. Of this group, 53% were men and 47% were women.

Based on basic hourly rate. A negative figure means the average for women is higher than the average for men.

• Mean (average) gap: -1.9%
• Median (middle) gap: -2.3%

Our mean gender pay gap is a 12.1 percentage point improvement on 2023, and better than the UK national average of 7.5% as reported in April 2024.

The proportion of male and female colleagues in each quarter of our pay range:

• Upper (highest paid): 46% women, 54% men
• Upper middle: 50% women, 50% men
• Lower middle: 65% women, 35% men
• Lower (lowest paid): 29% women, 71% men

The proportion of colleagues who received a bonus in the reporting period:

• Women: 41% received a bonus, 59% did not
• Men: 19% received a bonus, 81% did not

The difference between male and female colleagues' bonus, compared with the year before:

• Mean (average) gap: 15.5% in 2024, down from 35.5% in 2023
• Median (middle) gap: -11.1% in 2024, down from 33.6% in 2023

The bonus data for the reporting period was skewed in comparison to the prior year, because no company bonus payment was made in 2023. For this reporting period, a higher proportion of women received regular bonus payments.

We look forward to delivering a number of colleague-focused programmes that we believe will begin to have a material impact on our gender pay gap.

Talent

• A full review of our hiring practices, to make sure we reach the most diverse funnel of talent.
• A review of our talent management initiatives, to identify opportunities to increase diverse participation.
• The creation of a number of new apprenticeship programmes, to bring new talent and skills into the business.

Reward

• The implementation of job architecture, to make sure we stay true to our ambition to be the most rewarding and inspirational employer.

People

• An end-to-end review of our policies and procedures, so that we offer an inclusive framework of management.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

• A focus on reviewing our wider people strategy through the lens of equality, diversity and inclusion.