Employment Law Updated December 2015
Gender Pay Gap Reporting
The Office of National Statistics reported last month that despite overall pay increases, the gender pay gap is still changing at a very slow pace. Their annual survey of hours and earnings reveals the UK’s gender pay gap improved by only 0.2 percentage points in the last year, as the difference between what men and women earn fell from 9.6 per cent to 9.4 per cent. This is despite the growing emphasis on pay equality.
What are the government doing?
A new clause within the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act (2015) will require all organisations (with more than 250 employees), to publish details of any gender pay gap across the workforce. The detailed regulations, ascertaining what information will need to be published and how frequently the information will need to be provided, has not been outlined yet.
Key changes
This will take effect by end March 2016
There will be a period of time from March to prepare for this change
It is likely to be phased in so that smaller organisations may have longer to prepare
Bonus payments are to be included within the pay gap calculations
Our recommendations:
If you don’t already conduct equal pay audits, take a look at what is involved. The Equality of Human Rights Commission website is a great place to start and provides guidance on carrying
out an equal pay audit.
Start getting ready for this early, as there is no indication at the moment what the lead in time will be and how much detail you will need to publish.
Check out your systems and capability to produce equal pay gap information
Watch out for updates outlining what will need to be published. This may incorporate detail surrounding different posts, grades, status etc. It is also not yet clear whether plans for remedial action will need to be published.
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