Newsflash: Gender pay gap – mandatory reporting

What do we already know?

In our March 2015 Newsflash Gender pay gap – mandatory reporting we updated you that the Government’s voluntary equal pay reporting initiative, the Think, Act, Report framework (introduced in 2011), was to become compulsory. The Government planned to implement this by changing the law so that firms employing more than 250 people would be required to reveal the pay gap between male and female employees.

What is new?

The Government has confirmed that it will change the law to require companies with 250 or more employees to publish gender pay gap information. It has published a consultation paper, Closing the Gender Pay Gap (available here), on the details of the changes and seeking views on the level of gender pay information to be required and the frequency of publication.

The consultation closes on 6 September 2015. The changes to the law are expected to be made in the first half of 2016 but there may be some delay to this timetable to give employers time to prepare. For example, implementation may be staggered, with larger employers being required to publish gender pay gap information before smaller ones.

Menzies Law’s Equal Pay Audit & Advice Service

We will soon be launching our own equal pay/gender pay gap audit and advice service, designed to provide you with information on your organisation’s own compliance with the Equal Pay Act and advice on what to do about it if you are not currently complying.

For more information, please contact our Director, Luke Menzies.