Lidl Ireland announced a 6.2% mean gender pay gap for 2021, declining by 30% from 8.8% in 2020.
The organisation also announced a zero (0%) median pay gap.
The gender pay gap is the difference between the average hourly pay rate of male and female full pay relevant employees.
Lidl has a gender-neutral pay policy, meaning men and women are paid the same rate at the same levels in hourly and salaried roles.
Pleased With Its Progress
While Lidl Ireland is pleased with its progress to date, it reports that it is taking further steps to eliminate the mean gender pay gap across its 5,000 plus workforce in the Republic of Ireland.
Speaking at the announcement, Maeve McCleane, chief people officer & board executive at Lidl Ireland & Northern Ireland, said, “We strongly believe in the positive impact that a zero gender pay gap can have, not only on our own colleagues, but Ireland’s society and economy, by tapping into wider talent pools across genders, ensuring a multiplicity of opinions and approaches, developing enhanced teamwork, ensuring that we retain both our female and male colleagues and that genders across our workforce are reflective of our broad and diverse customer base.”
Legal Requirement
The announcement comes ahead of a legal requirement in Ireland for companies with over 250 employees to report on their gender pay gap.
The 6.2% Lidl Ireland mean gender pay gap compares favourably in Ireland where the average gender pay gap is 11.3%, at a European level where it is 14.1%, and with the UK retail sector, which has a mean gender pay gap of just under 12%.
The Lidl Ireland’s mean pay gap of 6.2% and median pay gap of 0% also compares well versus the Aldi UK reported mean gap in 2020 of 10.25% and median gap of 7.08% and complements the Lidl GB 2020 mean gap of 6.6% and median pay gap of 0.2%, the lowest mean pay gap among nine food retailers in the UK in 2020.
No further data has been reported in Ireland among retailers.
