Gender Pay Gap Reporting - Are you prepared?

The government has already taken steps to try and combat the issues surrounding gender pay gap, when in February of this year the Gender Pay Gap Information Regulations were published.

The regulations now mean that as of April 2017, businesses with more than 250 employees will be required to collect data on and then report how they pay men and women, which will affect around 8,000 businesses across the UK. Businesses will be required to publish the data no later than April 2018 (employers will have up to 12 months to choose when to publish the information).

Although April 2017 seems a long way away, you need to ensure you're as prepared as possible, so what needs to be done to ensure your business complies with regulations?

There are three different sets of data which businesses must measure:

The difference in pay between male and female employees: Employers will have to calculate and report the difference between the median and mean pay for men and women (expressed as a percentage of men’s median and mean pay).

The difference in bonus payments between male and female employees: As well as the pay gap, employers will also have to report on the proportion of men and women who receive bonus payments, based on headcount, in the 12 months before the day you’re collecting the data. This includes:

• Profit sharing
• Productivity payments
• Performance payments
• Commission
   

The number of men and women in each pay quartile: Employers will also be required to publish the proportion of men and women working in each pay quartile. This will involve dividing the workforce’s overall pay range into four notional pay bands, to be labelled A-D, and reporting the gender split in those bands.

For full guidance on implementing the gender pay gap reporting regulations, please see: http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=5768

If your business is going to be affected by the new Gender Pay Gap Regulations, what impact is this likely to have?