Employers need to be prepared as gender pay gap reporting deadline approaches
Employers need to be prepared to submit ‘gender pay gap’ data to the Government as the reporting deadline approaches.
The gender pay gap is the difference in average earnings between women and men. Employers with more than 250 staff must report their organisation’s gender pay gap by the end of the financial year.
According to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the pay gap has been declining slowly over time. Over the last decade, it has fallen by approximately a quarter among both full-time employees and all employees.
The deadline for reporting by public sector employers, private sector employers, and voluntary organisations in 2021 was put back until midnight on 4 October 2021 because of the pandemic.
Normal timescales
Enforcement for the reporting year 2019/20 was suspended in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic.
For 2022 it reverts to the normal timescales, so the deadline for public sector employers to report their data is now 30 March 2022, with a snapshot date of 31 March 2021.
For private sector employers and voluntary organisations, the deadline is 4 April 2022, with a snapshot date of 5 April 2021.
Calculations will be based on payroll data drawn from a specific date each year, known as the ‘snapshot date’.
This determines who counts as an employee for gender pay gap reporting, your employees’ hourly pay and the date which you must report and publish your information, which is within a year of the snapshot date.
Businesses must publish the data on their own website and the Government gender pay gap reporting website.
The Government Equalities Office says companies must report:
- Percentage of men and women in each hourly pay quarter
- Mean gender pay gap
- Median gender pay gap
- Mean bonus gender pay gap
- Median bonus gender pay gap
- Percentage of males and females receiving a bonus payment
Mean is the average hourly rate of pay, calculated by adding the hourly pay rate for employees then dividing by the number of employees.
Median is calculated by listing all male and female employees’ wages from highest to lowest and comparing the number that sits in the middle for each gender.
Publishing an action plan that explains how you intend to tackle your gender pay gap is also an option.
For help and advice on employment matters, contact our expert team at AGS HR Solutions today to discuss your requirements.
