Gender Pay Gap Reporting – a new years resolution?

Only around 5% of the 9,000 potentially affected employers have so far published their gender pay gap reports and time is running out, with less than 3 months until the deadline. The Equality and Human Rights Commission has also announced it plans to get tough with those that don’t comply, warning of unlimited fines and convictions.

As a reminder employers with more than 250 employees need to publish by 4 April 2018:

• average hourly gross pay figures using both the mean (total pay divided by number of employees) and median (middle point when pay rates are listed in ascending order)
• the proportion of men and women in each of four pay bands (quartiles), to show how the gender pay gap differs across the different levels
• the difference between men and women’s mean and median bonus pay over a 12-month period
• the proportion of male and female employees who received a bonus in the same 12-month period

Employers will have the option to include a narrative explaining any pay gaps or other disparities, and setting out what action, if any, they plan to take.

You need to get the reporting and narrative right. Misleading or mistaken reporting could lead to increased scrutiny and adverse inferences if equal pay claims are subsequently brought by employees. It is far better to be transparent about any actual pay gap and explain why it exists and if necessary what you plan to do about it.