In e-mails sent to businesses which have registered their details on the government’s gender pay gap reporting website, the Government Equalities Office (GEO) has apparently said that it plans to publish the names of all those businesses which have not yet
reported their gender pay gap data. Any business with 250 or more employees must publish and report specific figures about their gender pay gap, with the first reports to be published online on the government website by no later than 4 April 2018. It is not
clear how the GEO intends to compile an accurate list of those businesses which are obliged to report their gender pay gap data but which have not yet registered their details on the government website.

The government estimates that about 9,000 businesses will be obliged to report on their gender pay gap data. Although a large proportion of those have already registered on the government website, less than 600 businesses have so far actually uploaded their
gender pay gap data onto the system. It therefore appears that many businesses either plan to upload their data close to the 4 April 2018 deadline, or will simply fail to comply with it. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is currently consulting
on its draft enforcement strategy for pursuing employers who fail to comply with their reporting obligations.

It is important not to confuse the gender pay gap with equal pay. Whilst both deal with the disparity of pay women receive in the workplace, they are two different issues. Equal pay means that men and women in the same employment performing equal work must
receive equal pay, as set out in the Equality Act 2010. The gender pay gap is a measure of the difference between men’s and women’s average earnings across the whole business. In businesses which are dominated by men in senior roles, the gender pay gap will
inevitably be great, even though those businesses may actually be paying equal pay to men and women performing equal work. The recent allegations made against the BBC by the former BBC China editor, Carrie Grace, relate to unequal pay, i.e. that she was being
paid significantly less than two male international editors carrying out the same role. She resigned from her role as a result.

Source: New feed