MCCH

They support people and help them to live independent lives, whether it’s in their own home, accessing community activities or being employed. With over 150 services across the South East, their head office is based in Maidstone, Kent.

With well over 250 people at the charity, mcch were one of the companies required by the Government Equalities Office to submit a gender pay gap report in April 2018.

Maxine Hooker-Jones, Payroll & Pensions Manager said: “After the announcement, the job of providing a gender pay report was given to the payroll department. This was going to be a difficult job, not least because we were in the middle of a complex and time-consuming merger, but also due to resources.”

It soon became clear to Maxine that producing the gender pay gap report was becoming costly, in terms of both time and money.

“I had dealt with Croner in my role with a different company, so I was well aware of what they could offer. We were really snowed under dealing with the merger, so I immediately spoke to Croner.

“The service offered was such good value, to me it was a no-brainer. In the end, Croner would be saving us money in the long run, even though it cost us initially. We’re a charity and we need to be focused on our expenditure.”

Maxine didn’t just want to get the company’s gender pay gap report provided that year, but wanted to prepare for the years to come.

“We signed up over a 3 year period with Croner Reward. It’s now set up for the next gender pay gap report, so now we don’t have to worry about time constraints or resources. For me, this is a relief.”

As the charity works in the social care sector, there were certain elements that made mcch’s gender pay gap reporting a little more complex.

“One of the requirements when we took advice was whether we were including sleep-ins in the report itself. I wanted to know if people were putting it in or leaving it out.

“We were advised not to include sleep-ins, but as our board wanted to see this included to see the result, Croner very kindly produced two separate reports, one with sleep-ins included and one without them. That was especially appreciated so that our board could get a more rounded picture.

“Charlie, my contact at Croner Reward, was very knowledgeable and I got on really well with him. He was very good at turning things around quickly and what I really liked was that he was confident enough to say if we were wrong in our thinking and understanding.

“The result varied largely from what we expected, so Charlie was happy to clarify the results with our Directors. I was extremely impressed with the customer service, that despite the report being completed and provided, Croner was still willing to talk to us and clarify the results.

“I’d definitely recommend Croner Reward to any company looking to provide a gender pay report. The charity we are merging with, Choice Support, were struggling to put their report together for the same reasons as mcch. I recommended them to Croner and I believe it all went smoothly.”

Both reports for mcch and Choice Support were published on time and reflected the charity’s commitment to fair pay with a gap of 0%.