It is International Women’s Day………and only four weeks until the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017 come into force, introducing an obligation on all voluntary and private-sector employers with 250 or more employees to record and publish their relevant gender pay gap statistics.
The deadline for publication of the first gender pay gap reports is not until 4 April 2018, however the first “snapshot date” – the reference date for measurement of the relevant statistics – is only 4 weeks away, on 5 April 2017.
Will your business employ 250 plus employees on 5 April 2017? If so, read on!
Given the scope for reputational damage or even for staff to use their employer’s gender pay gap figures to support claims of sex discrimination or equal pay, it is crucial to consider how you present your statistics. Remember, gender pay gap reports must be published on the company’s website in a manner which is accessible to all employees and the public in general, and kept online for three years.
The Regulations allow employers to publish a voluntary narrative to accompany their figures, which means there is an opportunity for you to provide an explanation for any pay gap, publish further statistical evidence to support that explanation, and set out the steps you intend to take or have already taken to address that pay gap.
The sooner you start to analyse your pay gap data, the better placed you will be to address any major issues in advance of publication and to provide a positive narrative in your first gender pay gap report.
If you have any questions about the new gender pay gap reporting duty or how to present your figures in the best possible light, please contact
Fiona Hamor
Partner
0161 393 9049
fiona.hamor@pannonecorporate-com.stackstaging.com