Gender Pay Gap Reporting - Non-compliant Employers Named and Shamed
Eight employers who failed to report their gender pay gap by the deadline, have been named by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
What is Gender Pay Gap Reporting?
Gender pay gap reporting has been in place since 2017. Private and public sector employers with 250 or more employees at an annual 'snapshot' date are required to carry out and report various calculations designed to track their organisation's gender pay gap over time. The public sector snapshot date is on March 31 each year, and the private sector date is 5 April. Employers have one year from each snapshot date in order to publish their data.
Consequences of Non-Compliance
The gender pay gap framework has been criticised in the past for lacking enforcement or sanction provisions. However, the EHRC has the power to investigate employers that fail to report their gender pay gap data. This could lead to unlimited fines after court action. Employers are incentivised to comply with the Regulations, as those who fail to do so also risk having their names published on the EHRC website.
This year, the EHRC sent warning notices to 730 employers who had failed to publish their data on time. Of these, eight have still not reported their data so have now been named by the EHRC. This time last year, 28 employers were named and shamed, so there has been an overall reduction in non-compliance.
Learning Points
Whilst the Regulations themselves do not contain an enforcement mechanism, there are clear reputational implications for employers named and shamed on the EHRC website for failing to publish their gender pay gap data.