Allen & Overy is planning to improve gender balance at the more senior end of the firm. The firm's gender pay figures revealed that it paid males an average bonus of 42 per cent more than females. The average bonus paid by the firm is 23 per cent. It also said that female employees were paid 19.8 per cent less than men, which 'reflects the gender composition of our workforce. Over 25 per cent of our people in London are women in business support (administrative) roles. We benchmark our salaries to ensure our people are rewarded fairly; however, the high proportion of women in these roles has a significant impact on our gender pay gap.'

Pay disparity

The pay disparity was greater in the upper quartile – the highest-paid employees at the London office – where women are paid on average 13.6 per cent less than their male peers. In the lower quartile of earners, the gap moves to - 4.9 per cent, where female staff are paid more than males on average.

Greater strides

Allen & Overy has, however, made greater strides than Linklaters which recently revealed that it paid its male staff members nearly 60 per cent more in bonuses than women. The firm’s female employees were paid on average 23.2 per cent less than male colleagues with the gap widening to 39.1 per cent when the median figure was considered.