Thousands of employers will have to publish their gender pay gap figures for the first time, as the government’s Gender Pay Gap Reporting goes live.
Voluntary, private and public sector employers with 250 or more employees will be required to publish their figures by April 2018. The regulations will cover approximately 9,000 employers with over 15 million employees, representing nearly half of the UK’s workforce.
As part of the new regulations, employers will be required to; publish their median gender pay gap figures; publish their mean gender pay gap figures; publish the proportion of men and women in each quartile of the pay structure; publish the gender pay gaps of any bonuses paid out during the year.
Employers will also be encouraged to publish an action plan alongside their figures, demonstrating the steps they will take to close the gender pay gap within their organisation.
The UK is on of the first countries in the world to require gender pay gap reporting and follows the government’s commitment to introduce the requirements at the last election.
It is hoped that the new reporting legislation will help break the glass ceiling and create a more modern workforce. It is a key part of the government’s work to eliminate the gender pay gap.
The UK gender pay gap already stands at a record low of 18.1 per cent but these requirements will help employers to identify the gaps in their organisations and take action to close their gender pay gap.
Speaking about the legislation, Justine Greening, Minister for Women and Equalities said, “We have more women in work, more women-led businesses than ever before and the highest proportion of women on the boards of our biggest companies.”
“This has helped us to narrow the gender pay gap to a record 18.1 per cent – but we want to eliminate it completely.”
“Helping women to reach their full potential isn’t only the right thing to do, it makes good economic sense and is good for British business.”
“I am proud that the UK is championing gender equality and now those employers that are leading the way will clearly stand out with these requirements.”
The new gender pay gap mandatory reporting requirements are part of wider work the government is doing to support women in the workplace. This includes £5 million to increase returnships, offering 30 hours of free childcare, and introducing shared parental leave and new rights to request flexible working.
