Gender Pay Gap
Government publish response to gender pay gap reporting recommendations 21 January 2019
The government response to gender pay gap recommendations made by the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee has been published.
In August 2018, the department of Business, Energy, Innovation and Skills (BEIS) Committee published its thirteenth report on closing the gender pay gap, recommending that the qualifying threshold remains at 250 employees next year (2019), but the following year be reduced to organisations of 50 employees or more. The Treasury Committee’s response to the thirteenth report in September 2018 stated that it is important to recognise that the regulations are still in their infancy, with organisations having only just completed the first year of reporting. The response also said that the legislation itself is ground breaking, with no other country asking for this level of transparency, but they will review it in five years indicating that it will not be extending reporting requirements before the review takes place.
The Government has now published its response to the thirteenth report and has responded specifically to the recommendations put forward by the BEIS committee.
“…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…”
Some of the recommendations made by the BEIS committee were identified by CIPP members during consultation, particularly around the method of certain calculations. A summary of the relevant recommendations and responses are as follows: Recommendation That the Government works with the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, business groups and other stakeholders to clarify outstanding areas of ambiguity and to publish revised guidance accordingly. Response The Government Equalities Office (GEO) works closely with businesses and employer membership bodies to ensure that the views and experiences of employers are understood. Guidance is regularly assessed to make sure it remains fit for purpose. Government will continue to gather stakeholder feedback and update the guidance, should this be appropriate. Recommendation That the Government reviews the gender pay gap reporting requirements with a view to aligning them with other business reporting requirements from next year. Response Government recognise the Committee’s concerns about the burden posed by different requirements on business and are working with several Government Departments to align requirements as much as possible. Given the range of organisations within the scope of the regulations, there is not another common reporting requirement that would logically align with gender pay gap publication and government has therefore focused on balancing transparency of data with flexibility for employers. The reporting regulations were designed so that employers have flexibility on when they publish their data, giving them a full year after the snapshot date so that they can report at any time, in line with their own internal processes. Recommendation That organisations are required to provide some narrative reporting alongside their gender pay statistics and an action plan setting out how pay gaps are being and will be addressed, including objectives and targets. Subsequent reports should report progress against this action plan, including targets set.
Response
The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
Payroll: need to know
cipp.org.uk
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