Arc and Chester show biggest gender disparity in staff wages

Women In Racing has called on every company involved in the sport to reveal its gender pay gap after welcoming the figures from five of the biggest racing organisations.

Set against the national mean of an 18.4 per cent gender pay gap in companies employing 250 or more people, Arena Racing Company and Chester Race Company (CRC) appear in a poor light, with women earning 23 per cent less per hour with Chester and 21.6 per cent with Arc.

The Football Association has a pay gap of 23 per cent and the Lawn Tennis Association 31 per cent.

Jockey Club Racecourses recently revealed a three per cent gender pay gap, followed by the BHA showing a 16 per cent differential.

Goodwood racecourse bucked the trend with figures showing female employees earning 13 per cent more per hour than men.

Bonus comparisions

Women In Racing highlighted some interesting findings on bonus payments in the five organisations, with a larger percentage of women (65.4) to men (59.1) at Arc receiving a bonus.

CRC, owners of the city’s track and hotel and leisure outlets in Chester, plus Bangor racecourse, also fared badly in bonus comparisons, with 30 per cent of female employees getting a bonus compared to 72 per cent of their male counterparts.

Comparisons of the five leading racing organisations showed Goodwood again had more women in the middle two pay quartiles and that they are equal in the top pay quartile.

The Jockey Club figures show 44.7 per cent in the top quartile are female.

Women lag behind at the top with Arc at 38.8 per cent, but are well ahead of the BHA with 22 per cent representation at that higher level, and 29 per cent at Chester.

Women In Racing still noted that "compared to some sectors female representation is strong throughout".

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