Topics

Gender pay gap

Fiona Cuming Editor's message: Equal pay legislation has been around since the 1970s, giving men and women the right to claim equal pay where they perform "equal work".

The gender pay gap, however, covers the difference in the average earnings of men and women, regardless of their role or seniority. There are a variety of factors behind it, including the impact on women's career progression of taking time out of the labour market to have children, and career choices, with typical “male” subjects such as IT and science often leading to higher-paid roles.

To address the issue, the Conservative Government introduced a requirement for all large organisations to publish their gender pay gap information annually. This involves producing six key metrics, including the difference in the mean and median pay and bonus pay of men and women, along with the proportion of men and women in each of four quartile pay bands.

The New Labour Government is on a mission to remove inequality of treatment in the workplace. The Employment Rights Bill, introduced to Parliament on 10 October 2024, will require large organisations to publish an equality plan that sets out the steps they are taking to narrow the gender pay gap, and to support employees going through the menopause.

The Government has said that it will also introduce the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill during the current parliamentary session. This Bill will include provisions to introduce mandatory ethnicity and disability pay reporting for employers with 250 or more employees.

It's not yet known when these measures will come into force, but it's never to early to start to prepare!

Fiona Cuming, employment law editor

New and updated

  • Type:
    Letters and forms

    Gender pay gap report

    Updated to include the latest pay data from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2024.

  • Type:
    Economic data

    ONS gender pay gap data: ASHE 2024

    Updated to include the latest headline gender pay gap data from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2024. The next ONS release date is November 2025. 

  • Date:
    24 October 2024
    Type:
    Podcasts and webinars

    Webinar: Employment Rights Bill - how HR can get ahead of the changes

    In this webinar, Brightmine legal editors Stephen Simpson and Zeba Sayed explain what the changes are going to be, what employers can do now to begin preparing and the potential timelines for implementation.

  • Date:
    18 October 2024
    Type:
    Survey analysis

    Employment Rights Bill research 2024

    The first draft of the Employment Rights Bill was published on 10 October - just ahead of 100 days into the new Labour Government. We take an early look at how HR is reacting to the changes included in the Bill.

  • Date:
    11 October 2024
    Type:
    Commentary and insights

    Employment Rights Bill published: 10 highlights for HR from the first draft

    After months of waiting, the Government has finally published the first draft of its wide-ranging Employment Rights Bill, which will make radical changes to employment law in the next few years. Now that the Employment Rights Bill has begun its progress through Parliament, we highlight the key points from the first draft for HR professionals.

  • Type:
    Employment law guide

    Gender pay gap reporting

    Updated to include information on the proposed requirement for employers to produce an equality action plan under the Employment Rights Bill, published 10 October 2024.

  • Type:
    Legal timetable

    Gender pay gap and menopause action plans

    The Employment Rights Bill introduces a requirement for larger employers to publish action plans showing the steps they are taking towards gender equality.

  • Type:
    International

    Global gender pay gap audits comparative table

    Enhanced to include information on requirements in Illinois (US) and to include additional information on requirements in Canada, Finland and Ireland. 

  • Type:
    International

    Global gender pay gap reporting comparative table

    Enhanced to include information on gender pay gap reporting requirements in the US. 

  • Date:
    22 August 2024
    Type:
    Podcasts and webinars

    Webinar: Optimising reward structures for fair pay decisions

    In this webinar our experts, Jennie Jakubowski and Swetha Viswanathan, touch on the theory before showing you in practice how the Brightmine solutions can help drive better compensation outcomes for your organisation.

About this topic

HR and legal information and guidance relating to the gender pay gap.