The Government has stated that they are committed to closing the difference in pay between men and women. In July 2015, a consultation was launched exploring the best ways to address this issue and has concluded that requiring employers with more than 250 employees to publicly report on any such differences in pay would be beneficial.
There has been a lot of talk as to what pay information would have to be taken into account and published. Draft regulations have now been issued, which can be found here. The proposed requirements include publishing annually the mean and median pay details of male and female employees, along with differences in bonus payments. The draft regulations set out guidance on how to make these calculations. Tables by sector of employers’ reported pay gaps will be published. The identity of employers known not to have complied with the reporting obligations may also be published. While civil penalties for not complying have not been proposed, this will be kept under review.
The Government has asked for comments on the draft regulations from interested parties, in particular whether they should be modified in any way. The consultation closes on 11th March 2016, details of which can be found here. Subject to the results of this further consultation, it is envisaged that the regulations will be introduced in October 2016, with the first reports having to be published by 30th April 2018.
