THE F IRST YEAR THROUGH THE LENS OF THE PAYROLL INDUSTRY
l Review the elements of pay and reward that can be included within the average hourly rate – significant concerns continue to be raised by potentially misleading results due to the exclusion of the value of salary sacrifice amounts – pension and childcare are the top two benefits in kind provided under salary sacrifice and indeed the value of other benefits in kind not provided through salary sacrifice can also skew the figures and provide an easy ‘out’ for employers looking to quickly reduce large gender pay gaps.
l Regulations need to be finessed to match non statutory guidance - where the average hourly rate will distort the results and the hourly rate is clearly known during the snapshot period.
l Guidance needs more examples - to ‘bring alive’ the explanations relating to calculations.
l Delay in the laying of final regulations and the production of guidance has created administrative burden and finalised lessons need to be learned from the impact.
In October 2017 the Prime Minister announced a drive to close the gender pay gap saying:
“We need to see a real step-change in the number of companies publishing their gender pay data and offering progression and flexibility for all employees. That’s why…I am calling on more businesses, both small and large, to take action to make sure the gender pay gap is eliminated once and for all.” Only the passage of time will demonstrate whether mandation at this point will actively reduce the Gender Pay Gap more efficiently and subsequently return the economic benefits to employers within the private sector, the public sector and the third sector. Many factors will need to change in order to achieve full transparency, diversity and inclusion, but what this research has shown us through survey results and in face to face interviews and discussions is that all sectors within the payroll profession have, as they do with all other new mandatory requirements, engaged wholeheartedly to ensure the successful delivery of gender pay gap reporting.
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THE CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF PAYROLL PROFESSIONALS
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