Gender pay gap - consultation just published

15 July 2015

On 14 July the government published a consultation paper seeking business input into new regulations that will come into force next year to compel large employers to publish gender pay data. As we reported earlier this year, attempts to persuade business to disclose pay data on a voluntary basis were deemed unsuccessful, and the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act passed just before the election contained a requirement for the Government to introduce a mandatory scheme.

Our understanding is that new Regulations are likely to be implemented early next year, meaning that businesses will have only one or two pay rounds to get their houses in order before the public and the media pore over their figures.


We anticipate many clients will want to give the Government the benefit of their experience by responding to the consultation paper. Some may wish to submit their own responses, but if you would like to give your feedback anonymously, we would be delighted to gather your views into our own response. The consultation paper is available here and contains some interesting comparative data on the approaches of other European countries to gender pay reporting, as well as further detail on the Government's efforts to dampen the effects of gender stereotyping in schools and the workplace.


We have reproduced the questions from the consultation here. If you would like to answer the survey please feel free to do so. If you would like to discuss the impact of the forthcoming publication regime for your business, please get in touch.