Equal Pay - Bridging the Gender Gap
The government has confirmed that it will shortly launch a consultation on gender pay gap reporting with a view to introducing a requirement for large companies to publish information on men’s and women’s salaries and rewards.
The requirement, which was introduced by the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015, will apply to companies with at least 250 employees and a penalty of up to £5,000 will be enforced for non-compliance. The government has indicated that the statutory regulations implementing the new rule will follow soon after the consultation.
In addition, a recent survey by the Office of National Statistics has showed that in April 2014 the gender pay gap for all employees was 19.1%, 9.4% for full-time employees and -5.5% (negative figure showing women being paid more than men) for part-time employees. In particular, the survey found that although the gender pay gap for full time work continues to decrease, there has been a dramatic rise in the gap in pay for male and female employees over 40 years of age and in senior positions. The House of Commons Library has issued a briefing paper considering differences between earnings for men and women based on the survey results.