The British Library publishes 2024 gender, ethnicity and disability pay gap reports

Since 2018 the Library has published annually its gender pay gap figures for staff working here, and this year’s report can now be viewed online.

Last year the median figure stood at 0.21%, effectively eliminating the gender pay gap, and I’m delighted to report that this year’s figure is 0%, which is even better – fulfilling the ambition we set ourselves of closing the gap by the end of our Living Knowledge strategy period in 2023.

 

 

Closing the gap for good will continue to be an ongoing effort, and may of course be subject to a range of fluctuations over time. Through a range of measures, we’ll continue to actively progress gender equity, not only within pay, but across all areas of working life at the Library. You can read about these in the report, in the section headed ‘Our commitment.’

This year, for the first time, we are voluntarily publishing pay gap figures relating to ethnicity and disability. From this point forward we will also be publishing these figures annually, with the goal of reducing and eliminating these gaps, and ensuring that the Library as a workplace is welcoming, fair and empowering for everyone, regardless of their background.

As publishing these pay gaps is currently voluntary, there are challenges in benchmarking both nationally and within our sector – however, these initial figures will serve as a necessary baseline for assessing our future progress. The Ethnicity Pay Gap Report (PDF, 6.3mb) shows a median gap of 5.33% for Asian colleagues and 13.03% for Black colleagues, while the Disability Pay Gap Report (PDF, 5.5mb) shows a median gap of 4.20% for colleagues with disabilities.

Clearly this is not where we want to be and so our target is to eliminate these gaps by 2030, the end of our current Knowledge Matters strategy period. Annual publication of these figures will ensure that we do so in a transparent and accountable manner, and in each report you can read more about the targeted measures that are currently underway that we believe will make a substantive difference.

By focusing our efforts, and tracking our progress in the coming years, we are determined to deliver positive change in these areas, as we have done with the gender pay gap.

Jas Rai
Interim Chief Operating Officer

Pay Gap Reports

• British Library Gender Pay Gap Report 2024 (PDF, 5.2mb)
• British Library Ethnicity Pay Gap Report 2024 (PDF, 6.3mb)
• British Library Disability Pay Gap Report 2024 (PDF, 5.5mb)

 

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