The issue of women being paid less yet they work in the same positions as men took first took hold during the Great War when men went overseas to fight. This trend went for a number of years leading to “equal pay strikes,” but only a war bonus was paid out. Despite the presence of legislations such as Equal Pay Act of 1971 and the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975, this gap hasn’t been filled yet. Equal pay differences between men and women who carry out the same jobs, similar jobs or work of equal value is different to the gender pay gap difference in the average pay between all men and women in a workforce. Currently, there’s a 25% gender pay gap in UK’s high tech sector, which means this disparity is yet to be addressed.
What is gender pay gap reporting?
Following the publishing in Feb 2017 of the Gender Pay Gap regulations of the Equality Act of 2010, public and private companies with 250 employees or more will now have to publish gender pay gap and bonus pay gap annually. This will help track the difference in pay between male and female workers. The results will then be published on a league table to help crackdown on the worst offenders.
When should you publish and report?
It’s mandatory that each company that falls under the legislation publishes a report at the end of every year starting 30th April 2017. The government already asked employers to present a snapshot of the gender pay on 30th April 2017.
What do you need to know?
Gender pay gap refers to the average difference between men and women’s aggregate hourly pay. Therefore, under the new rules employers are required to publish the mean and median gender pay gaps. In addition to that, you should also know the proportion of men and women receiving bonuses, the mean and median gender bonus gaps and the ratio of men to women working in the organization’s quartile pay distribution. This pay includes basic salary, allowances, paid leave, shift premium pay, bonus pay and pay for piecework.
What you need to do
The results collected from the gender pay gap and bonus pay gap analysis will have to be combined and published on your organization’s website. Additionally, a copy of the data will also be provided to the government for official publication. The data will help organizations assess their performance towards attaining gender pay equality.
How does this affect your organisation?
Although the draft regulations don’t specify the measures that should be taken against companies that fail to comply, failure to comply can lead to civil enforcement measures. Furthermore, a poor record can have adverse effects on your organisation’s credibility and affect your recruitment process. Using the data collected, you can introduce a new framework that embraces change and every aspect of gender equality.
Adam Gibson is a global leader in Workforce Planning, creator of the Agile Workforce Planning methodology and a popular keynote speaker. He has successfully implemented and transformed workforce planning and people analytics in businesses across both the public and private sector. As a consultant, he advises company executives on how to create a sustainable workforce that increases productivity and reduces cost; he is also the head of CIPD’s workforce planning faculty.