The gender pay gap has always been on the agenda, but now that Government are introducing legislation around reporting and regulations, it’s a necessity rather than a luxury.
The topic of the gender pay gap isn't anything new, but what is new is the Government's introduction of the legislative basis for gender pay gap reporting and regulations.
On International Women's Day 2022, Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O'Gorman, announced the introduction of gender pay gap reporting in the Republic of Ireland.
Employers will choose a 'snapshot' date of their employees in June 2022 and must report on the hourly gender pay gap for those employees on the same date in December 2022.
This will need to include the mean and median hourly wage gap, data on bonus pay, the mean and median pay gaps for part-time employees and employees on temporary contracts, and the proportions of male and female employees in the lower, lower-middle, upper-middle and upper quartile pay bands.
This reporting requirement will help ensure pay transparency exists in organisations and will play an essential role in achieving gender equality in the workplace. The reporting is a landmark victory for the fair pay campaign, but it will not be without its challenges for employers.
Gender pay gap reporting in Northern Ireland
The UK's law concerning gender pay gap reporting was set out in 2016. However, due to the collapse of the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2017, the subsequent publication of the regulations did not happen.
There was hope that there may have been some movement on this critical issue after the recent assembly elections, but as it stands today, it looks like we will still be waiting.
It is now regarded as good practice, with or without the legislation, to publish gender pay gap information, and many organisations in Northern Ireland have already been doing this. However, to get the complete picture and to be able to have the data required to ensure fairness and equality throughout the workforce, we do need to see some legislation enacted.
Challenges facing organisations
There are a few challenges facing organisations reporting on their gender pay gap in the north and south of Ireland.
Reporting results will either have a negative or positive impact on your organisation, especially regarding staff retention and hiring. Gender pay gaps will likely influence a candidate's assessment of your commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Resourcing this reporting requirement will need to be considered – which department is going to handle this? Most will land on HR or payroll, but will they be able to cope with this added workload?
Imperfect reporting will also be a challenge. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has compiled research into this area with UK organisations and suggests that inexperience and insufficient technology can mean the output quality is not great.
Finally, internal structures, such as flexible working arrangements and child care, etc., are factors that will need to be addressed.
The benefits of reporting
Even though gender pay gap reporting will challenge organisations, benefits come from this hard work.
For one, there can be a cultural transformation through communication, transparency and a policy of fairness and equality that transcends not just pay but every aspect of the organisation.
On top of that, by collating and analysing the data gathered for reporting, an equal workforce with equal opportunities, new and improved hiring and promotion methods could be gained to ensure a fair approach.
Patrick Gallen is Partner of People and Change Consulting at Grant Thornton.
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