Gender pay on display

The gender pay gap has been a topic of much high profile discussion recently. Many interest groups in civil society have committed themselves to this cause over the years and it is apt that in this year, that marks 100 years of suffrage, new initiatives continue to mark change to promote equality.

Publishing the pay gap

On 6 April 2017, the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Information) Regulations came into force. Under the regulations, employers of 250 people or more must publish information on the difference in pay between male and female employees each year. Six key elements need to be published:

1. the difference in mean hourly rate
2. the difference in median hourly rate
3. the difference in mean bonus pay
4. the difference between the median bonus pay
5. the proportions of male and female employees who are paid bonus pay
6. the proportions of male and female full pay employees in the lower, lower middle, and upper quartile pay bands

The regulations provide the formulas to calculate the data and further explain these terms to help businesses comply and publish the information.

Details publicly available online

April 2018 will be the first time when this information has to be published. The regulations require the information is placed on the employer’s website – so that it is accessible to all its employees and the public for three years. It also must be uploaded to the Gender Pay Gap online reporting service.

GOV.UK has made available practical guidance on how to publish gender pay gap reports here.

At the end of last month, The Fawcett Society published its Sex Discrimination Law Review. According to their website, The Fawcett Society is the UK’s ‘leading charity campaigning for gender equality and women’s rights’. Responding to the gender pay information regulations, it made the following recommendations:

• civil penalties for non-compliance with gender pay gap reporting should be introduced
• the threshold for reporting should be progressed to workplaces with over 50 employees

The law review has an entire chapter focused on the workplace which could influence your organisation to develop progressive policies and stay ahead of the curve.

If you have any queries about the matters discussed please contact your dedicated team:

County FAs

Call 08448 240 432 or [email protected]

Chartered Standard Clubs

Call 0191 211 7799 or email [email protected]