Following the introduction of the gender pay gap regulations last month, the government has launched a gender pay gap “viewing service” giving the public access to the information that companies publish. 

The regulations, which apply only to private and public sector employers with at least 250 employees, require those affected to publish the following information by April 2018: 

  • the difference between the mean hourly rate of pay of male and female employees
  • the difference between the median hourly rate of pay of male and female employees
  • the difference between the mean bonus pay paid to male employees and that paid to female employees
  • the difference between the median bonus pay paid to male employees and that paid to female employees
  • the proportions of male and female employees who were paid bonus pay
  • the proportions of male and female full-pay employees in the lower, lower middle, upper middle and upper quartile pay bands. 

This information has to be published within 12 months beginning with a defined pay date of 5 April (31 March for public sector employers) referred to as the “snapshot date”. 

Employers are also encouraged to publish an action plan alongside the figures on their website, demonstrating the steps they will take to close the gender pay gap within their organisation. 

Iain Birrell, of Thompsons Solicitors, added “Laudable though the intention is, don’t get too excited yet. The use of percentages and quartiles necessarily obscures nuance and detail, and the strict focus on gender difference and average figures obscures more insidious gender inequality detail such as the fact that gender pay inequality often increases with age. 

Perhaps most frustrating of all however is that there is no narrative to give those numbers context - a particular issue given the weaknesses inherent in compiling these figures which are explained in our LELR Spring edition. 

We may be told that there is a 6% mean pay gap and a 0% median pay gap, but what does that actually mean? Are we comparing like with like? Is it justified or not? In the vacuum of cyberspace these bald numbers are unlikely to tell you that, but this shouldn’t stop employees and customers from screaming the questions.” 

To view the information published by the government, go to:
https://gender-pay-gap.service.gov.uk/Viewing/search-results 

For more information on the gender pay gap regulations, go to: https://www.thompsonstradeunion.law/news/newsletters