Closing the pay gap recent changes to WGEA employer reporting obligations
20 April 2023
What you need to know
- The Australian Parliament recently passed the Workplace Gender Equality Amendment (Closing the Gender Pay Gap) Act 2023, which seeks to accelerate employer action to close the gender pay gap.
- The reform includes changes to employer reporting obligations to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency.
What you need to do
- Start reviewing policies and strategies to determine whether your organisation is compliant with the new obligations. Identify what needs to change to be compliant by 1 April 2024.
- Consider whether your organisation has the systems in place to ensure accurate reporting, or what needs to change to facilitate accurate reporting.
- Consider whether the data your organisation holds about "prevalence data" about sexual harassment, harassment on the grounds of sex and discrimination is centrally maintained and suitably de-identified in case your organisation needs to report on this in detail to WGEA.
Changes introduced by the WGEA Act 2023
In March 2022, WGEA published a report reviewing the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012. The report found that the gender pay gap fell from 18.5% in 2014 to 14.2% in 2022, and concluded that the speed of progress was too slow.
The report made 10 recommendations to accelerate progress. The WGEA Act 2023, and its respective legislative instruments, implements (in full or in part) 6 of the report's recommendations.
Who is affected by these changes?
The employers who are required to report to WGEA are:
- a registered higher education institution that is an employer
- a natural person, a body or an association (whether incorporated or not), that employs 100 or more employees in Australia; and
- a Commonwealth company or entity that employs 100 or more employees in Australia.
When do these changes come in effect?
The new reporting obligations will come into effect on 1 April 2024.
What are the key changes to employer reporting obligations?
| Existing obligations | New obligations |
|---|---|
| Employers must share the gender equality reports they provide to WGEA with their employees, shareholders, and/or members. | Employers must also report the date that they shared the gender equality reports with their employees, shareholders, and/or members, and share their WGEA Executive Summary and Industry Benchmarks with their Board. |
| Employers must report the full time equivalent salary for their casual and part-time employees. | Instead of reporting the full time equivalent salary for casual and part-time employees, employers must report actual earnings, and the number of hours worked. |
| Employers must report the proportion of their workforce who have access to employer-funded paid parental leave for primary and secondary carers, and the proportion of employees who took a period of parental leave, and/or who ceased employment during, or at the end of, that period. | Instead of reporting the 'proportion of the workforce', employers must now report the 'number of employees' who took a period of parental leave, and/or who ceased employment during, or at the end of, that period. |
Employers must report information about the employer against the six gender equality indicators:
| In addition to reporting information against the gender equality indicators, employers must now report:
a) Provisions in any policy/strategy, including accountabilities for: o Preventing and responding o Provision of training, its frequency, and its content o Disclosure processes and management of disclosures; and o Leadership statements or communication to demonstrate commitment to prevention and response b) Information about sexual harassment risk management c) Information about the prevalence data organisations currently collect; and d) Supports available for staff. |
Employers with 500 or more employees must have policies or strategies in place to support one or more of these gender equality indicators:
| Employers with 500 or more employees must now have a policy or strategy against all six gender equality indicators:
|
Considerations in preparing to report sexual harassment and discrimination "prevalence data"
One of the new reporting obligations will require employers to report "information about the prevalence data [they] currently collect" about sexual harassment, harassment on the grounds of sex and discrimination.
There is currently limited guidance about how this requirement will be applied in practice. It may be that WGEA will require employers to disclose actual complaint handling data, including the frequency of complaints and how often they are substantiated.
Employers may wish to consider their sources of this "prevalence data" and whether it is centrally maintained and appropriately de-identified, in case they need to report on this in detail to WGEA.
Tips for employers
To prepare for their new reporting obligations in 2024, employers should:
- Determine which reporting obligations apply to your organisation;
- Review systems used for collecting and reporting information, and determine whether any adjustments need to be made;
- Consider whether current policies and strategies satisfy your obligations;
- Consider your additional reporting obligations about sexual harassment, harassment on the grounds of sex and discrimination in the context of your organisation's broader response to the Respect@Work report released in 2020; and
- Consider whether the data your organisation holds about "prevalence data" about sexual harassment, harassment on the grounds of sex and discrimination is centrally maintained and appropriately de-identified in case they need to report on this in detail to WGEA.
Authors: Jennie Mansfield, Partner; and Amelia Taylor, Graduate.
