Gender Pay Gap Reporting- Is Your Business Ready?

1. Consider whether you are a ‘relevant employer’ and therefore subject to the obligations imposed by the Regulations – only employers with more than 250 employees as at 05 April 2017 will be covered by the obligations. The definition of employee is wider under the Regulations and means anyone employed under a contract of service, a contract of apprenticeship or a contract to personally do the work. Employees who are receiving less than full pay as a result of leave do not need to be counted.
2. If you are part of a corporate group, consider which employing entities will be a ‘relevant employer’ under the Regulations and therefore subject to the reporting obligations.
3. Identify any areas of uncertainty over which employees are in scope (see point 1). For example casual workers and consultants may be in scope, though this depends on the circumstances of their relationship with you. Consider whether their pay and hours data is readily available, and if not, whether they could be out of scope on the basis that you do not have, and it would not be reasonably practicable to obtain, the relevant data.
4. Consider all remuneration offered, all benefits and any flexible benefits scheme to analyse what elements will be reportable (there is a definition of pay in the Regulations, and certain payments are excluded). Consider whether to implement any salary sacrifice schemes, or if any existing benefits could be provided by means of salary sacrifice so that their value would not need to be reported.
5.  Carry out an audit of bonus schemes to identify which would need to be reported as bonus pay (for example, bonuses to former employees don’t need to be reported). Consider whether any bonus schemes should be changed, for example to avoid annual payments being made in April (and therefore counting towards the headline gender pay gap figure, albeit on a pro-rated basis, as well as the gender bonus gap).
6.  Calculate the gender pay gap information at this stage using the methodology in the Regulations to assess how big the gap is likely to be when the first report is published.
7. Identify the senior individual who will sign the written statement confirming the accuracy of the published information.
8.  Consider the potential contact of any narrative that will accompany the gender pay gap information.

If you need any advice or guidance on the new Gender Pay Gap reporting obligations, then please don’t hesitate to contact the Employment law team at Banner Jones.