Earlier this month, on 6th April 2017, the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017 came into force. This means that all large employers in the private and voluntary sectors with 250 or more employees must publish their first gender pay gap reports by no later than 4th April 2018.
What do employers need to report?
All employers must report on the median and mean gender pay gap figures for pay and bonuses, and the percentage proportion of men and women who received a bonus and the number of men and women in each quartile of their pay distribution. There are also similar provisions, contained the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017. These require large public sector employers in England with 250 or more employees to publish their gender pay gap data. In the public sector, the deadline of 30th March 2018 has been set for gender pay reports to be published.
What happens next?
To tie in with the beginning of Gender Pay Gap Reporting, Acas and the GEO have published a revised, final version of their joint non-statutory guidance on mandatory gender pay gap reporting covering both sets of regulations. This guidance is perfect for employers that are searching for practical advice on working out if the regulations apply to their business. It also offers guidance on how to carry out gender pay reporting, understanding key terms, how and where a business must publish the data and the penalties if businesses don’t comply. Lastly, and extremely importantly, it contains useful guidance on reducing the gender pay gap in businesses.
The Acas and GEO guidance can be found here. It’s important to note that throughout the guide, a legal requirement is indicated by the word “must” and the word “should” is what Acas considers to be good practice. They have also published two fact sheets and a template letter to help employers understand their obligations under the regulations.
In a nutshell
Gender Pay Gap Reporting is now in force and employers must report their figures according to provisions in the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017. To help employers ensure that they are reporting the correct information, Acas and the GEO have published guidance available for all businesses.
For more information, visit http://79.170.40.162/enlightenhr.com or contact Alison Benney:
alison@enlightenhr.com
Tel: 01803 469466
Mobile: 07967221595
