Linklaters Gender and Ethnicity Pay Gaps Widen

Gender and ethnicity pay gaps for U.K. staff at Linklaters widened slightly during 2020, according to annual data release by the firm on Wednesday. 

The firm’s ethnicity pay gap for staff excluding equity partners grew from 8.7% in 2019 to 10.8% last year, while the gender pay gap nudged up marginally to 20.7%, an increase of 1%. 

Among the firm’s equity partners, both gender and ethnicity gaps remained largely unchanged at 10.4% and 0.8% respectively. 

Elsewhere, however, the firm saw its ethnicity gap for staff bonuses narrow by nearly a third  from 41.9% to 29.9%. 

The change follows the unveiling of the firm’s new ‘race action plan‘ in October, which sets targets for Black and underrepresented minority ethnic lawyers across its U.K. and U.S. operations. 

By 2025, it aims for 15% Black and underrepresented minority ethnic partners across both regions.

The firm is one of several to reveal ethnicity and gender diversity data beyond what is statutorily required by the government. In October, it added its name to the list for law firms who wrote to the U.K. government to call for mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting. 

Linklaters is not the first to have revealed its 2020 pay gap data. In October, Allen & Overy revealed its ethnicity pay gap among partners more than doubled in 2020. The firm also announced its disability pay gap.

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