The Government Equalities Office has published new guidance on gender pay gap reporting, which will be particularly useful in light of the approaching 2020/21 reporting deadline.
Back in March, the enforcement of gender pay gap reporting was suspended for the 2019/20 reporting year in light of the pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020/21 reporting deadline is now just around the corner, with public sector bodies required to publish their figures no later than 30 March 2021 and all other eligible companies required to do so by 4 April 2021.
Reminder of obligations
As a reminder of the scope of the reporting obligations, employers with a headcount of 250 or more employees must report their gender pay gap using data from a “snapshot date”. For public sector bodies, this snapshot date is 30 March 2020 and, for all other companies, the snapshot date is 5 April 2020. Where a company is part of a group, each separate legal entity with a headcount of 250+ employees must report its own information, rather than that of the group. Companies with a headcount of less than 250 can also volunteer to report their gender pay gap.
This pay gap information must be submitted online and employers can opt to submit a supporting narrative and employer action plan along with their gender pay gap. All of this information can then be accessed by the public here.
New collection of guidance
On 14 December, the Government Equalities Office launched a collection of guidance (found here). The collection breaks down the pay gap process into four steps and features a series of guidance documents which are designed to support employers through the reporting process. The guidance covers: which organisations are caught by the reporting requirements; what relevant data must be gathered; how to carry out the calculations; and how to publish a pay gap report.
In addition to providing a helpful set of guidance on how to approach the reporting requirements, this new collection serves as a helpful reminder of the proximity of the reporting deadline – something that many employers will have on their January “to do” lists after the Christmas period is over.
