Gender Pay Gap reporting suspended

Friday 27 March 2020

On Tuesday, the Government Equalities Office and the Equality and Human Rights Commission jointly made the decision to suspend the need for companies to report on the gender pay gap in their workforce.

The decision was made due to the Coronavirus pandemic and the government gave its assurance that the decision would not derail attempts to pay men and women fairly.

The deadline for public sector bodies reporting gender pay gap data was due to be next Monday (30 March 2020), with private companies due on 4 April 2020. Employers will still have the option to submit their data if they wish, it is now however, no longer compulsory.

Whilst Tuesday’s decision has been welcomed by many companies as it allows them to focus their resources on their response the Coronavirus pandemic, it is estimated that only around one quarter of the companies required to submit the information have already done so.

In 2017, gender pay gap reporting rules were brought in under the Equality Act meaning that companies with 250 or more employees are required to display the gaps in their salaries between men and women in a bid to reduce the 17.9% average difference in pay between the sexes.

Last year, the government data showed that nearly half of the British companies required to submit their data had failed to reduce their gender pay gap from the year before despite rising government pressure and public scrutiny.

The Gender Pay Gap Information Regulations require employers to omit from the pay gap calculations any employees who were on reduced rates of pay on the April snapshot date. In the present circumstances, this could be a large proportion of the workforce.

In light of the current circumstances, April 2020 is likely to be a very unrepresentative month in terms of pay for employers. Gender pay gaps are calculated from averages meaning that the pool of people included could be dramatically smaller than usual. The likely result is that gaps reported could be dramatically different from previous years and will not give an accurate representation of the employer’s actual pay practices.

If you have any questions about the Gender Pay Gap Reporting or any other Coronavirus related employment questions, please email or call our Employment Law team today on 0113 207 0000.