Creating a fairer Britain
14 October 2009
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has today launched an online survey - targeted at medium-sized businesses - encouraging them to take part in a consultation on how employers* can measure and report on their gender pay gap.
In August, the Commission launched a consultation on developing a way for private and voluntary sector employers to measure and report the gender pay gap. It is working closely with the business sector, including the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and with the Trades Union Congress (TUC), to develop a consistent way to measure the gender pay difference in organisations.
Women working full-time currently earn 17.1 per cent less per hour on average than men, with the gap failing to improve in the past three years. The difference in some sectors, such as finance, is much wider and the majority of organisations are not aware of their own gender pay gap.
The Commission believes that developing ways for employers to measure and report on their gender pay gap will be a crucial step towards reducing pay inequity by providing greater transparency.
The aim is to encourage private and voluntary sector employers to report on a voluntary basis, but the Equality Bill does contain a reserve power which, if a future Secretary of State chose to use it, could lead to mandatory reporting if progress has not been made on a voluntary basis by 2013. The Commission has outlined a range of possible approaches.
Alan Christie, Director of Policy, Private Sector at the Equality and Human Rights Commission said:
'We have received a positive response to our consultation process so far and we want to ensure all businesses have the opportunity to tell us what sort of gender pay gap reporting they would prefer and to highlight any issues they have with it.
'We are particularly keen to hear from organisations with 250 to 500 employees who don’t always have the time and resources to take part in a detailed consultation. We would like them and other employers to take part in our short online survey about the gender pay gap reporting measures.
'The reasons for the pay gap are complex so the Commission is gathering views from employers on what could work best for their organisations in terms of measuring and reporting information. In particular, we want to hear from employers who have been monitoring their gender pay gap and have made moves to address it.'
Ends
The consultation closes on 28 October 2009.
*The reporting measures will be used by non-public sector employers with at least 250 employees.
IES is undertaking the development work for the consultation on behalf of the Commission and has developed the survey.
Gender pay gap statistics:
Pay and employee statistics above are from the Commission’s analysis of data from the ONS’ Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2008 and ONS’ Labour Market Statistics Bulletin Historical Supplement 2009.
Data on Equal Pay Reviews are from Lorna Adams et al, Equal pay reviews survey 2008 (EHRC, 2008) and the figure for Executive Directorships is from Sealy, R et al, The Female FTSE Report 2008: a decade of delay (Cranfield University School of Management, 2008).
The Commission’s position on equal pay is outlined in more detail on our website.
The consultation document is available upon request.
The Commission is a statutory body established under the Equality Act 2006, which took over the responsibilities of Commission for Racial Equality, Disability Rights Commission and Equal Opportunities Commission. It is the independent advocate for equality and human rights in Britain. It aims to reduce inequality, eliminate discrimination, strengthen good relations between people, and promote and protect human rights. The Commission enforces equality legislation on age, disability, gender, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation or transgender status, and encourages compliance with the Human Rights Act. It also gives advice and guidance to businesses, the voluntary and public sectors, and to individuals.