International Women’s Day – A recap on gender pay gap reporting
08 March 2022
8 March 2022 marks International Women’s Day – a day to celebrate and appreciate the contribution of women, and to call out any discrimination that they face. The CIPP want to take this opportunity to say a massive thank you to all the women of payroll for their hard work and determination.
In April 2017, the government introduced legislation that obligated large employers (with a headcount of 250 or more) to report statistics highlighting the variation in pay between men and women. Gender pay gap calculations are based on a specific date, known as the ‘snapshot date’ and must be published within a calendar year of that date.
With the deadlines for gender pay gap reporting approaching, it’s important that payroll professionals know exactly what their responsibilities are.
Deadlines
Most public authority employers have a snapshot date of 31 March 2021 and must submit their information by 30 March 2022.
Private, voluntary and all other public authority employers must use a snapshot date of 5 April 2021 and submit their information by 4 April 2022.
What are the figures that need to be reported?
• percentage of men and women in each hourly pay quarter
• mean (average) gender pay gap using hourly pay
• median gender pay gap using hourly pay
• percentage of men and women receiving bonus pay
• mean (average) gender pay gap using bonus pay
• median gender pay gap using bonus pay.
The relevant pay period will be the one in which your ‘snapshot date’ falls. You should only consider payments made which relate to that pay period and exclude anyone that did not receive their full basic pay due to leave taken.
You’ll also need to prepare a written statement, verifying the accuracy of the data and signed by an appropriate person (a senior representative of the business), normally a director or equivalent. This doesn’t apply to some public authority employers.
You may also want to add a supporting narrative or action plan, to give employees an understanding or explanation of any gaps, a more in-depth analysis, and steps you may be taking to close the gap.
After using the government’s online service to report your gender pay gap figures, you should also publish the gender pay gap report on the company’s public facing website.
Gender pay gap reporting highlights the payroll department’s significance to their company. Even though the dates coincide with the busiest times of the payroll year, failure to comply with this legislation would lead to serious reputational damage and fines to the employer.
If you have a specific query with regards to gender pay gap reporting, CIPP members can contact our Advisory Service anytime, who will be more than happy to help.
Information provided in this news article may be subject to change. Please make note of the date of publication to ensure that you are viewing up to date information.