Response Government continue to urge organisations with fewer than 250 employees to publish their data voluntarily, and several employers under the threshold did report last year. Given the range of metrics required, at the time of consultation it was felt that reporting could be particularly burdensome for small and medium sized businesses and so the requirement should be restricted to large employers. As the Committee’s report recognises, there are several issues when it comes to the reliability of data from smaller organisations – especially for those firms with 50 or fewer employees. The reduced number of staff means their GPG figures are much more sensitive to small changes, e.g. staff turnover, pay rises, etc., compared to larger organisations. Government will still encourage smaller firms to look at their gender pay gaps, to ensure there is fair representation of men and women at all pay grades in the organisation and it will also continue to support organisations of all sizes, both with the reporting process and efforts to tackle their gaps, encouraging them to use the ‘what works’ guidance. Should there be sufficient appetite for lowering the threshold in future reporting years, government will consult with potentially affected stakeholders on the feasibility, and advantages and disadvantages of extending the regulations. Recommendation That the Government uses the guidance to clarify how data on partner pay should be calculated and included in time for the publication of data next year [2019]. Response The regulations exclude partners in traditional partnerships and limited liability partnerships from the gender pay gap calculations, because partners are not “paid” but instead take a share of the profits, which is not directly comparable with employees’ pay. Partners who fall within the Equality Act 2010’s definition of employment should be included in the employee headcount but not used as part of the calculations. Government does recognise that there are concerns regarding how partners are currently treated within the calculations and is working with stakeholders affected by this to understand the challenges they face and identify any clarifications that might need to be made. There will not be any substantial changes made to the guidance now the reporting year has begun. As with changes to the regulations, it is felt it would be unfair to make these within the reporting year. Government will evaluate altering the guidance regarding partners in future reporting years, for example to introduce a voluntary reporting methodology for partners. If this happens it would be communicated extensively, prior to the start of the reporting year in which it would come into effect. "Next year is the 50th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act, and yet still we are tackling issues around fairness in pay. The UK has one of the highest gender pay gaps in Europe. Pay reporting can only be the first step in closing this gap and moving towards genuine equality and diversity in the workplace. The Government’s refusal to extend gender pay gap reporting requirements to partners is disappointing and continues to make a nonsense of efforts to understand the true scale of, and the reasons behind, the gender pay gap in some companies. Failing to accept our report’s recommendation to require businesses to publish an action plan for closing the gap, against which they must report progress each year, suggests the Government are timid in holding businesses to account for their efforts in driving the change needed". Commenting on the Government response, Rachel Reeves MP, Chair of the BEIS Committee, said:
Read the full Government response to the Committee’s report on the Gender Pay gap.
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Gender pay gap reporting – payment in arrears 12 February 2019
The CIPP Advisory service has recently been receiving questions from members regarding payments in arrears for gender pay gap reporting purposes.
There appears to be some confusion around whether to use dates that the employee is paid for or dates when the employee is actually paid.
The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
Payroll: need to know
cipp.org.uk
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