Analysis of bonus pay gap

Since 2023, bonus pay gaps have demonstrated a notable shift in favour of women. In 2023, the mean bonus pay gap was marginally in favour of women, while the median gap indicated parity between genders. This trend strengthened significantly in 2024, when both measures reflected a clear advantage for women: the mean bonus pay gap stood at -13.1%, and the median gap widened to -20%. By 2025, the gap narrowed, suggesting a movement towards greater balance.

The mean bonus pay gap was recorded at -5.8% in favour of women, while the median returned to 0.0%, signifying equal median bonus payments across genders. Although women continue to hold a slight advantage on average, the reduction from 2024 levels demonstrates progress towards parity.

A key factor influencing these changes was the redesign of the recognition scheme implemented in April 2022 for staff at Grade 6 and below. The revised scheme aimed to improve accessibility and broaden participation by introducing new award types and adjusting award values. These enhancements resulted in a higher total annual award distributed across the workforce, which contributed positively to the observed bonus pay gap trends.

Gender Bonus Pay Gap

In the year to March 2025:

• 87.6% of women were awarded a bonus, a decrease of 2.5pp since 2024.
• 84.6% of men were awarded a bonus, a decrease of 0.9pp since 2024.
• The mean bonus pay gap is -5.8% in favour of women, a decrease of 7.3pp from -13.1% in 2024.
• The median bonus pay gap is 0%, a decrease of 20pp from -20% in 2024.

Full Time vs Part Time

Whether an employee works full time or part time has been found to be a contributor to the gender bonus pay gap. For women, the mean bonus pay gap between full-time and part-time staff increased slightly from 37% in 2024 to 39% in 2025. For men, the mean bonus pay gap was more pronounced, rising from 44% to 49%, favouring full-time men. Overall, the organisation’s mean bonus pay gap between full-time and part-time employees grew from 36% to 40%, indicating that progress toward parity has stalled and moved further away from balance. The rise in the mean bonus pay gap in favour of full-time men suggests that working part-time had a greater negative impact on bonus outcomes for men than for women.

Figure 6: Breakdown of Full-time vs Part-time by Gender

This trend is mirrored in bonus receipt rates. Full-time employees continued to have a higher likelihood of receiving a bonus compared to part-time employees, with 89% of full-time staff receiving a bonus in 2025 versus 80% of part-time staff, a gap of 9pp. For men, this difference was even greater at 17pp, while for women it was smaller at 6pp, highlighting that full-time status results in an advantage for both genders, but the disparity is more significant among men.

Among full-time employees, bonus receipt remained high but declined slightly overall, falling from 91% in 2024 to 89% in 2025. Within this group, women saw a drop from 94% to 90%, whereas men remained steady at 89% across both years. This shift narrowed the gap between full-time women and men from +5pp in 2024 to +1pp in 2025, suggesting convergence in bonus access among full-time staff.

Part-time patterns tell a different story. Women’s bonus receipt remained stable at 84% in both years, while men experienced a slight decline from 74% to 72%. Consequently, the gap between part-time women and men widened from +10pp to +12pp, favouring women in terms of bonus coverage. At the overall workforce level, part-time coverage dipped marginally from 81% to 80%, a smaller change than the full-time decline but still directionally negative.

Two key dynamics emerge from these findings. First, the mean bonus pay gap between full time women’s and full-time men’s widened from 7pp in 2024 (37% vs 44%) to 10pp in 2025 (39% vs 49%). Second, receipt of bonuses diverged by employment type: full-time bonus receipt converged between genders, while part-time coverage remained stable for women but weakened for men. Overall, the data underscores a consistent pattern: full-time employees are more likely to receive a bonus than part-time employees, and this disparity is particularly pronounced among men.

Figure 7: Full Time Vs Part Time Bonus Divide by Gender