Acas publishes guidance on gender pay gap reporting

gender-pay-gap-reporting-acas-guidanceThe gender pay reporting legislation, which requires employers with 250 or more employees to publish statutory calculations every year showing how large the pay gap is between their male and female employees, is expected to come into force in April 2017.

Gender pay gap reporting should not be confused with equal pay. Equal pay deals with the pay differences between men and women who carry out the same jobs, similar jobs or work of equal value. It is unlawful to pay people unequally because they are either a man or a woman. The gender pay gap shows the difference in the average pay between all men and women in a workforce. If a workforce has a particularly high gender pay gap, this can indicate there may a number of issues to deal with, and the individual calculations may help to identify what those issues are.

The key points are as follows:

  • An employer must comply with the regulations for any year where they have a ‘headcount’ of 250 or more employees on 5 April, but employers of all sizes should consider the advantages.
  • The definition of who counts as an employee is the wider Equality Act 2010 definition. This means that workers are included, as well as some self-employed people. Agency workers are also included, but are counted by the agency providing them.
  • These regulations apply to the private and voluntary sectors but the government is aiming to include the public sector by April 2017 too.
  • Gender pay reporting is a different requirement to carrying out an equal pay audit.
  • There are six calculations to carry out, and the results must be published on the employer’s website and a government website within 12 months. They must be confirmed by an appropriate person, such as a chief executive.
  • Employers have the option to provide a narrative with their calculations. This should generally explain the reasons for the results and give details about actions that are being taken to reduce or eliminate the gender pay gap.

What are the six calculations?

An employer must publish six calculations showing their:

  • average gender pay gap as a mean average
  • average gender pay gap as a median average
  • average bonus gender pay gap as a mean average
  • average bonus gender pay gap as a median average
  • proportion of males receiving a bonus payment and proportion of females receiving a bonus payment
  • proportion of males and females when divided into four groups ordered from lowest to highest pay.

The results must be published on the employer’s website and a government website, the details are which are expected to be made available closer to 5 April. They must be confirmed in a written statement by an appropriate person, such as a chief executive.

Employers also have the option to provide a narrative with their calculations. This should generally explain the reasons for the results and give details about actions that are being taken to reduce or eliminate the gender pay gap.

Together with the Government Equalities Office (GEO), Acas has published guidance on managing gender pay gap reporting in the private and voluntary sectors. It should be noted that the guidance relates to the draft Regulations, which are not yet law.

Acas has also published two useful factsheets: Gender pay reporting: obligations for employers  and The top ten myths about gender pay reporting.  Acas have also produced a Gender pay reporting notification template, which can be downloaded from their website, to help employers communicate with and engage with their staff about gender pay gap reporting.

If you need advice on gender pay gap reporting please contact Helen Kay on or .

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