Key dates for the gender pay gap reporting

  Employers will need to begin collecting gender pay gap data from as early as 1 May 2016 even though the reporting legislation does not take effect until October 2016. We have prepared a brief timeline below on the key dates and actions to be taken running up to the deadline. What to do now: Confirm that the data needed to conduct the gender gap reporting is already being collected by the organisation. This information must include data on employees who work in Great Britain and on employees whose contracts are governed by UK law. Additional data may be useful for the organisation internally. Gathering information on the organisation’s historical gender data, the gender profile of the organisation and even bonus trends may help the organisation understand and analyse their gender pay gap results better. Conducting analysis based on gender pay gap data from previous years could help guide the organisation to see if it is ready to meet the regulatory requirements. It could also flag up any concerns, which the organisation can begin to address. From May 2016: The organisation should start to collect data for the first reporting period. Pay data covers payments for the April 2017 pay period. Figures on bonus payments may need to be collected from as early as 1 May 2016, as bonus pay data includes payments from the year up during and up to 30 April 2017. 1 October 2016: It is expected that The Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2016 are to come into force on this date. Employers with 250 or more employees, who are within the private and voluntary sectors, are required to publish the prescribed information about their organisations gender pay gap. 1 May 2017: The organisation should start to calculate the results for their gender pay gap. Before 30 April 2018: The organisation must publish the result of their gender pay gap analysis on their website in a publicly accessible location. The results must be accompanied by a signed statement indicating that the information is accurate and the results must remain on the website for at least three years. The organisation must also upload the gender pay gap results onto the Government’s reporting website. Although not required, the organisation can add commentary to their results to assist their employees and the public to better understand the results, especially in cases where the pay gaps are significant. Creating an action plan to address gender pay gaps can help show the organisation’s initiative to gender equality in the workplace. Though this is not compulsory, it is encouraged by the Government.