Government publishes guidance on reducing the gender pay gap

The Government has published practical guidance to help employers identify the potential causes of gender pay gaps in their organisation and develop an effective action plan to tackle them.

The Government Equalities Office has published ‘Eight ways to understand your gender pay gap’ which asks companies to identify potential areas for improvement, such as whether women tend to enter the company in lower paid positions than men, whether there is a difference in performance scores within the organisation depending in relation to gender and whether individuals who are employed on a part-time basis are being supported to advance within the company.

Alongside this, the GEO has also published a four-step guide to help companies develop an effective gender pay gap action plan. The guide encourages employers to analyse and understand why they have a gap, working with staff to find out what they can be doing better and developing an action plan accordingly. Finally, the guide encourages businesses to give the action plan time to make an impact.

Minister for Women Victoria Atkins said: “The gender pay gap is at its lowest level on record, but that is still not good enough if we want to achieve real gender equality in the workplace.

“Last year 100% of companies in scope reported their pay gap data, but they now need to take steps to put an end to this inequality. These steps includes better engagement from senior leadership, more open conversation about why organisations have a gender pay gap and improving recruitment practices.

“We want employers to understand the causes of their gender pay gap and create action plans that will close those gaps for good.”

Research recently published by the GEO found that more companies have prioritised reducing their gender pay gap since the introduction of gender pay gap legislation in 2017. 69% of employers now view closing the gender pay gap as a high or medium priority, an increase of 8% on last year. The research also shows that 67% of companies are having discussions at board-level to find ways of closing the gap.

The deadline for publishing gender pay audits this year is 30th March for public sector organisations and 4th April for private and voluntary sector organisations with over 250 employees.

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