4th July 2017

Mind the gap: UK businesses required to reveal gender pay information

The gender pay gap has long been a hot topic amongst workers, campaigners and politicians alike.

Now the UK Government is attempting to plug the gap by launching new legislation which will require employers across the UK to publish the difference in pay between male and female employees in their workforces by April 2018.

Here are the details…

Who?
All private and voluntary sector employers in England, Wales and Scotland with 250 or more employees are now required to publish statutory calculations annually.

Why?
New Equality Act 2010 regulations came into force on 6 April 2017. The 2010 Act gives women and men the right to equal pay for equal work.
The move is part of an initiative to close the gender pay gap. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the UK’s gender pay gap for full-time employees in 2016 was 9.4%.

When?
The information must be based on a ‘snapshot’ of a company’s pay bill on 5 April 2017 and must be published annually thereafter. The first reports must be published by 4 April 2018.

How?
Employers must collect the following information and submit it to the Secretary of State via a government website.

  • The difference between the mean hourly rate of pay for full-pay male and full-pay
    female employees
  • The difference between the median hourly rate for pay for full-pay male and
    full-pay female employees
  • The difference between the mean bonus pay paid to male relevant employees
    and that paid to female employees
  • The difference between the median bonus pay paid to male relevant
    employees and that paid to female relevant employees
  • The proportions of male and female relevant employees who were paid bonus
    pay; and
  • The proportion of male and female full-pay relevant employees in the lower,
    lower middle, upper middle and upper quartile pay band

The figures must also be published on the company’s own website.

Employees who are paid a reduced rate (e.g. maternity leave, sick leave) will be excluded to prevent skewing the figures.

Supporters of the law argue that companies who do not pay employees equally are likely to make vast improvements after the first set of figures are published, with the motivation of improving their figures before the next year.

But will it do enough to encourage employers to face up to any gender-based pay gaps they uncover? Some campaigners feel the measures are not strong enough, and worry the regulation may not be enforced.

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