Closing the Pay Gap Consultation Paper
The consultation on gender pay gap reporting has now been launched.
As we have previously reported the government announced that it would consult on the gender pay gap. This consultation has now begun and closes on 6 September 2015. Regulations are expected to be introduced in the first six months of 2016, however the regulations may provide for a period of delay to allow businesses to prepare for the changes.
The consultation document indicates that that businesses employing 250 or more employees will be required to publish information regarding their gender pay gap. It also includes details of the proposed regulations, requesting opinions on the level of gender pay information that will be required to be published and how often. The consultation also seeks opinions on how the information should be broken down; whether employers should be required to publish a further section adding additional information explaining any pay gap; and what remedial action they intend to take to close the pay gap.
It should be noted that 'employee' for this purpose has the wider definition as included in the Equality Act 2010, being all those who are employed under a contract of employment or apprenticeship or any contract which somebody personally carries out work.