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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

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