If your business employs more than 250 people, you must calculate and publish information about your gender pay gap every year. Our employment solicitors can advise on your reporting obligations and any related business impact.
Introduced in 2017, the Gender Pay Gap Information Regulations are designed to encourage businesses to promote pay equality between their male and female employees.
We can advise you on what you need to do to stay compliant with the regulations and what you can do to address any pay gap that your report uncovers.
As one of the UK’s top-rated national law firms, we have the expertise and resources to help businesses of all sizes with their gender pay gap reporting obligations. We pride ourselves in putting our clients at the centre of everything that we do and always provide practical, commercially-minded advice tailored to your specific needs.
Contact us online or call today on 01142 781 629 to find out more about how our specialist employment solicitors can help.
What Is The Gender Pay Gap?
Your organisation’s gender pay gap is the difference in the average earnings of its male and female employees in 4 different pay quartiles or bands. This includes both hourly pay and bonuses.
The statistics on the government website suggest many organisations pay men more than women while some pay women more than men. Others pay men and women the same amount on average.
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What Are The Gender Pay Gap Reporting Regulations?
The Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017 require businesses to publish figures about their gender pay gap every year.
Whether you pay men more, pay women more, or have no gap at all, you must report your figures.
The regulations also outline:
- Which businesses are affected
- What data you must collect
- What information you must publish and how it should be presented
- Deadlines for publishing and reporting pay gap data.
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What Are They For?
Their aim of the regulations is to make information about pay gaps more transparent and to encourage employers to eliminate any pay inequality between men and women in their organisation.
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Do They Affect My Business?
The regulations apply to your business or organisation if it employs 250 or more employees. They affect both public and private sector organisations.
The definition of ‘employee’ for gender pay gap reporting includes:
- People who have an employment contract with your organisation
- Workers and agency workers
- Some self-employed people.
You can publish and report your organisation’s gender pay gap voluntarily if you employ less than 250 people, but there is no obligation to do so.
If you’re unsure whether or not your business needs to report its gender pay gap, our solicitors can advise on your obligations. Contact us online or call us on 01142 781 629 to find out more.
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What Do I Need To Do?
If the regulations apply to your business, you must:
- Collect your pay gap data on a specific ‘snapshot date’. This is 31 March for most public sector organisations and 5 April for all other businesses, charities and employers
- Calculate your gender pay gap figures
- Publish your gender pay gap data and a written statement on your website
- Report your data to government using the online gender pay gap reporting service.
You must publish and report your pay gap within a year of the snapshot date when you collected your data. Your published information must include:
- The mean gender pay gap in hourly pay
- The median gender pay gap in hourly pay
- The mean bonus gender pay gap
- The median bonus gender pay gap
- The proportion of males and females receiving a bonus payment
- The proportion of males and females in each pay quartile
You can also add further information to explain any difference in your organisation.
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What Happens Once We Publish The Information?
After you have reported your figures to the government, the information is in the public domain. This means that anyone can view and search the data.
A range of stakeholders, such as prospective employees, employees, shareholders, directors and clients will have a particular interest in the data provided. It will also be readily available to your competitors who can directly compare pay gap figures.
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How Will It Affect My Business?
Your reputation could be at risk if your report shows evidence of a gender pay gap. It could reduce your ability to attract and retain talent and you may also face complaints from employees or unions.
The aim of the annual publication is that your organisation will want to remove the underlying reasons for the gap and improve it each year. It’s important to publicly communicate your plan and the steps the organisation is taking to reduce the pay gap. This will help you manage your reputation and your relationships with employees and stakeholders.
If your pay gap is low you can use it to improve your recruitment and retention of new staff. If your gap is high, it can be a good opportunity to review your HR policies and practices to increase the talent in your workforce.
You have a year to analyse your data before you have to publish your report. This gives you a chance to assess the business impact and plan your response and any explanation before the information is made public.
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How Can Irwin Mitchell Help?
At Irwin Mitchell, we can advise you on:
- Complying with your obligations
- Preparing the data and reporting on your pay gap
- Publishing any accompanying explanations
- Taking steps to reduce or eliminate a pay gap.
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How Much Do Your Gender Pay Gap Services Cost?
We offer a wide range of pricing options including fixed fees, monthly retainers, capped fees, pre-paid hours and the option to “pay as you go”. We’ll help you find the best option for your specific needs and situation.
We’re committed to being clear on costs and always provide regular estimates so you know how much our services are likely to cost.
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Contact Us Today
Our specialist employment solicitors can advise on any aspect of gender pay gap reporting and its impact on your organisation. Contact us online or call us on 01142 781 629 to speak to a member of our team and find out more.
