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Navigating Employer Gender Pay Gap Responsibilities

September 01, 2022

As you may know from our regular updates, Gender Pay Gap Reporting is finally in place and is a legal requirement for large organisations. But there still seems to be confusion around some of the details, so much so that the Government had to recently publish some clarifications relating to its guidance on calculating gender pay gap data and what should be included.

To help get a better understanding, we are answering some of the questions that have been causing confusion. If you have a question that has not been included, please feel free to get in touch.


When do different sized employers need to start publishing their gender pay data?

Employers with 250+ employees must report on their Gender Pay Gap report by December 2022.

This headcount will decrease twice with employers with 150+ employees required to begin reporting by December 2024 and those with 50+ employees required to do so by December 2025.


What must be reported in December?

Employers must publish a report containing the following information:

  • the difference between the mean hourly remuneration of employees of the male gender and that of employees of the female gender expressed as a percentage of the mean hourly remuneration of employees of the male gender;

  • the difference between the median hourly remuneration of employees of the male gender and that of employees of the female gender expressed as a percentage of the median hourly remuneration of employees of the male gender;

  • the difference between the mean bonus remuneration of employees of the male gender and that of employees of the female gender expressed as a percentage of the mean bonus remuneration of employees of the male gender;

  • the difference between the median bonus remuneration of employees of the male gender and that of employees of the female gender expressed as a percentage of the median bonus remuneration of employees of the male gender;

  • the difference between the mean hourly remuneration of part-time employees of the male gender and that of part-time employees of the female gender expressed as a percentage of the mean hourly remuneration of part-time employees of the male gender;

  • the difference between the median hourly remuneration of part-time employees of the male gender and that of part-time employees of the female gender expressed as a percentage of the median hourly remuneration of part-time employees of the male gender;

  • the percentage of all employees of the male gender who were paid bonus remuneration and the percentage of all employees of the female gender who were paid such remuneration;

  • the percentage of all employees of the male gender who received benefits in kind and the percentage of all employees of the female gender who received such benefits;

  • The difference between the mean hourly remuneration of employees of the male gender on temporary contracts and that of employees of the female gender on such contracts expressed as a percentage of the mean hourly remuneration of employees of the male gender;

  • The difference between the median hourly remuneration of employees of the male gender on temporary contracts and that of employees of the female gender on such contracts expressed as a percentage of the median hourly remuneration of employees of the male gender;

  • the respective percentages of all employees who fall within each of

    • the lower remuneration quartile pay band,

    • the lower middle remuneration quartile pay band,

    • the upper middle remuneration quartile pay band, or

    • ​the upper remuneration quartile pay band

           who are of the male gender and who are of the female gender.

Employers must also publish an additional report setting out the reasons for the differences in the employer’s opinion and what measures are being taken by the employer to eliminate the gap.


How does the reporting process work?

The first stage in the reporting process was to choose a "snapshot date" in June 2022. The reporting deadline date is six months after the snapshot date, in December 2022.

The reporting period is the 12-month period immediately preceding and including the snapshot date. For example, if an employer has chosen 20th June 2022 as its snapshot date, its reporting deadline will be 20th December 2022 and the reporting period is 21st June 2021 to 20th June 2022.


What happens if an employee was on maternity leave during the report period?

Statutory leave, such as maternity leave, must be included in the report. The preferred approach to calculating the data for any employee in receipt of statutory payments is to use the notional number of hours that the employee would have worked had they not been on leave.


What if an employer has reduced headcount below 250 since its “snapshot” date in June?

They are still obliged to report their data. The employer should be reporting on those employed on the snapshot date using the data for the previous 12-month period (June 2021 – June 2022).


What does an employer have to do once the report is finalised?

Employers must publish their Gender Pay Gap Report on their website and it must be accessible to all employees and members of the public. The report must remain on the website for three years.

If the employer does not have a website, their report must be made available in physical form, for inspection during normal business hours, by its employees and the public, at the company's registered office or principal place of business. 


What happens if an employer fails to publish its Gender Pay Gap Report?

Currently, there are no financial penalties for non-compliance or compensation to employees for any breach. But employees can bring claims against their employers to the WRC for failing to comply with the Act. The WRC can order an employer to take a specified course of action to comply with the Act. This decision will be published together with the names of the employer and employee, which could bring reputational and organisational risks for employers.

Under the Act, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission can bring a case to the Circuit Court or High Court to force an employer to comply with the Act.