Employers in Great Britain with at least 250 employees are now required to publish data on their gender pay gap on a publicly-available website. The final date for the publication of the first set of data was 4 April 2018 and the figures must be updated annually.
Having to collect and publish hard data has been useful in crystallising for many employers the fact that they have a significant gender pay gap. In fact, almost eight out of ten employers who published their first set of data by the deadline were found to pay men more than women, in some cases by a very significant margin. Apart from the potential reputational implications, this can be damaging for staff morale and recruitment, particularly where comparisons with employers in the same sector are unfavourable.
So the question for many employers now is how can they close their gender pay gap. The starting point is for each organisation to analyse its own data and identify the specific reasons why it has such a gap. While an element of straightforward discrimination cannot be ruled out, in most cases the gender pay gap stems from more subtle influences and a range of remedies will be needed to close that gap.
We identify below the key areas which employers need to address and suggest a number of action points to consider. Most are not legal requirements and some may involve a sea change in culture. Not all will be feasible but we hope they will be helpful in generating discussion.
| 1. Recruitment |
- review your job adverts to ensure the wording is gender-neutral
- unless clearly impracticable, offer flexible working arrangements in job adverts
- unless absolutely essential, remove from job adverts specific requirements (such as the level of experience required) which may deter female candidates from applying
- reach a wider audience by advertising vacancies outside the usual places
- make decisions as to who to invite to interview based on objective criteria
- have gender-balanced interview panels
- train those responsible for recruitment in how to avoid unconscious bias
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| 2. flexible working |
- consider the whole range of flexible working arrangements such as home working, job sharing, part-time working, term-time working, shorter hours etc.
- do not automatically assume certain roles cannot be performed flexibly
- re-organise work differently so that it can be done flexibly
- embed the principle of flexible working within your culture
- have senior role models who work flexibly themselves
- encourage employees of both sexes to work flexibly so responsibilities are shared
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| 3. parental leave |
- if not already in place, offer enhanced maternity pay over and above the statutory rate
- pay paternity leave and shared parental leave at an enhanced rate
- promote the use of shared parental leave (take-up is generally low)
- keep in regular contact with staff on parental leave and use "keep in touch" days
- implement a "returner" programme for those returning to the workforce after a career break
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4. Pay and bonuses
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- reduce manager discretion in pay and bonus awards to avoid gender bias
- ensure bonus criteria are gender-neutral, for example not disproportionately linked to hours worked, reflective of women's strengths etc.
- moderate any discrepancies between salaries promised to new joiners and those of existing staff at the same grade
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| 5. advancement |
- link promotion to objective criteria and reduce discretion in decision-making
- restrict the ability of senior managers to pick and choose who they work with to allow opportunities for all
- introduce mentoring for female employees by senior managers
- introduce reverse mentoring to improve communication between senior management and more junior staff
- set fixed targets for women in senior positions, report on progress and link the bonuses of senior management to achievement against those targets
- retain female staff by strict enforcement of anti-harassment and anti-bullying policies
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