Zurich’s UK operation has published its gender pay gap report, revealing that women earn on average 27 percent less than men as it pledged itself to three commitments that it believes will help achieve gender equality.

Both the mean and median gender pay gaps at Zurich UK were 27 percent. The mean bonus pay gap was 47 percent whilst the median bonus pay gap was 34 percent.

Zurich said that its pay and bonus rewards are consistently applied spanning all employees, irrespective of gender, and are regularly reviewed to ensure consistency. This has been recently confirmed by the EDGE re-certification audit.

In a statement Zurich UK CEO Tulsi Naidu said: "The gender pay gap is not the same thing as having equal pay, and we are confident that men and women in our organisation are paid equally for the same and similar jobs."

“We’ve calculated the figures in line with Government regulations and, like many others in our industry, we have found that differences in average pay are down to several different factors.”

She said that the gap can be explained by the fact that women working in financial services and in insurance specifically are under-represented in senior UK leadership roles and also in more highly paid technical and specialist roles such as actuarial and underwriting.

She added that the firm have seen a greater proportion of women choosing to work part-time and taking career breaks which has also affect gender pay gap results, with Zurich highlighting that only 1 percent of men choose to work part-time compared to 27 percent of women.

As such, the company said that it is committed to ensuring gender equality in the workplace and helping women reach the highest levels in its organisation by; making the industry and Zurich more appealing to women, continuing to create a truly diverse and inclusive workplace and improving opportunities for career progression for women and more flexible working for all employees in the organisation.

The trio of commitments from the insurer come alongside initiatives already in place which include Zurich's Women's Innovation Network, the development of an early careers programme, the extension of the company’s Youth Skills programme across UK locations, an ongoing commitment to flexible working practices, diversity and inclusion raining for managers, and participation in a cross-company, cross-sector mentoring scheme known as the 30 Percent Club.

“We know it will take long-term commitment to change the make-up of our workforce, and we will continue to invest in our gender and diversity initiatives to make Zurich an employer of choice. We’ve done a lot, but there is much more yet to do,” said Naidu.

“We’re proud to be an inclusive and forward-looking employer. We believe everyone can build a career that they too can be proud of, and we want people to join our business and progress their career here,” she added.