Gender pay report ‘disappointing’
12 Feb 2016
Companies with 250 employees or more will be forced to highlight pay inequality between male and female employees under new plans announced today.
It is expected the regulations will affect roughly 8,000 employers throughout the UK, with results – including pay and bonuses – first published via league tables from 2018.
Ann Francke, chief executive of the Chartered Management Institute, said: "Publishing league tables will drive diversity, bringing benefits not just to women but to business."
Confederation of British Industry (CBI) director-general Carolyn Fairbairn said league tables should not be used as a means of “naming and shaming” companies.
Observers will be forgiven for missing the point amongst the mass of data employers will now be required to publish
Tim Thomas, EEF head of employment and skills policy
That is because data will only serve to present a “partial picture” - particularly given factors such as the mix of part-time and full working and sectoral differences, Fairbairn said.
“Where reporting can be useful is as a prompt for companies to ask the right questions about how they can eradicate the gender pay gap,” Fairbairn said.
“The government should consult closely with business to ensure that this new legislation helps close the gender pay gap, rather than ending up as a box-ticking exercise,” she added.
Elsewhere, today’s announcement has been called “disappointing” by the manufacturers’ organisation EEF.
Tim Thomas, the organisation’s head of employment and skills policy said it should be easy, transparent and simple to report a company’s gender pay gap.
“It seems doubtful that the model announced today will achieve this,” Thomas said.
Thomas said manufacturers support greater pay transparency, but will view today’s announcement as one that will confuse more than clarify.
“The aim of gender pay reporting should be to shine a spotlight on an overall figure, leading employers to take action where needed,” Thomas said.
“However, the addition of a multitude of metrics to be reported on, both mean and median calculations, bonuses and earnings distributions, adds nothing but a distraction. Observers will be forgiven for missing the point amongst the mass of data employers will now be required to publish,” he added.
