Author: Rameez Kaleem, Reward Director
The countdown is on for new employer regulation aimed at closing the gender pay gap. The final draft of the regulations has been compiled and we’re now just a couple of weeks away from their introduction.
From the tax year starting 6 April 2017, employers with 250+ employees will be required to publish details of both their average and median gender pay gaps.
They must also provide details of the mean bonus payments made to men and women – and the gender profile of each ‘quartile’ of their pay structure.
This data will need to be published on the organisation’s website as well as a government hosted website where ‘league tables’ will be compiled by industry watchdogs.
Companies are legally required to publish their gender pay gap by 30th April 2018 although it remains to be seen exactly how the Equality and Human Rights Commission will punish non-compliers. A likely scenario is that companies will initially be named and shamed before tougher punishments are then handed out. This is likely to have a significant impact on the reputation of the organisation as well as their talent management strategy therefore overlooking this regulation is not worth the risk.
What will the gender pay gap reveal?
There is no doubt that when the gender pay gap figures are published in April 2018 this will reveal a significant gap between average male and female pay. This will not come as a surprise as a recent inquiry by the equality and human rights commission revealed that 90% of FTSE 250 companies had no female executive directors on their board.
As organisations look to publish their gender pay gap, there are a few important questions they need to consider:
- What other factors, if any, apart from a lack of women in senior positions is fueling your gender pay gap?
- Are you taking any actions to increase the number of women reaching executive and senior management positions?
- Do gender pay reporting figures differ across the organisation?
- What additional information would be useful to publish alongside the mandatory figures to provide some context?
- Are there any concerns around pay and is a more detailed equal pay audit required?
For more advice on gender pay reporting or to investigate any potential equal pay gaps in your organisation, get in touch with us. Don’t get caught out! Email sarah@3r-strategy.com