Tower Hamlets Council has reported a positive gender pay gap for the second consecutive year, indicating that women on average earn more than men. The Gender and Equality Pay Gap Report for 2026, presented at the Council meeting on Wednesday, 25 March 2026, showed that women's mean average hourly rate is 103.06% of men's earnings, and their median average hourly rate is 105.90% of men's earnings. This positive trend for women's pay has been observed for the past two years.
The report attributes this positive gender pay gap to several factors. Women represent 54% of the workforce and are proportionately overrepresented in the three highest pay quartiles, while being under-represented in the lowest quartile. Furthermore, a higher percentage of women receive bonuses, which primarily refer to recruitment and retention payments for hard-to-recruit posts such as social workers, compared to men. The council also prioritises paying employees above the London Living Wage to mitigate the impact of poverty, particularly on female employees.
In terms of specific departments, the council has both a traditionally lowest-paid predominantly female workforce (Contract Services) and a traditionally lowest-paid predominantly male workforce (Waste Management) in-house, which may influence the overall pay gap. However, the report indicates that women are overrepresented in the higher pay quartiles.
Tower Hamlets' mean gender pay gap of -2.03% in 2024 placed it in the second quartile of all London boroughs and inner London authorities. Similarly, the mean bonus gender pay gap of -1.46% also fell within the second quartile for these areas.
Beyond gender, the council also reported a positive pay gap for disability and sexual orientation. Disabled employees earn 3.01% more than non-disabled employees on a mean basis and 2.59% more on a median basis. For sexual orientation, LGBT employees earn 7.49% more than non-LGBT employees on a mean basis and 7.21% more on a median basis. These figures indicate that, on average, disabled and LGBT employees earn more than their non-disabled and non-LGBT counterparts, respectively.
The council is committed to advancing equality and aims to broaden its analysis to include a wider range of intersectional data, such as pay rates for Black disabled women and other intersecting identities, to better understand and address pay gaps. The Workforce to Reflect the Community Strategy 2024-26 includes actions to close the ethnicity pay gap and introduce class pay gap reporting. In preparation for the Employment Rights Act 2025, which mandates the publication of gender equality action plans from January 2027, Tower Hamlets is developing a voluntary plan by April 2026.
The Gender Pay Gap Report 2026 can be accessed in full here. The council meeting agenda and related documents can be found on the Tower Hamlets Council democracy website.
