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08 January 2016 / Sarah Johnson
Issue: 7681 / Categories: Features , Employment
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Mind the gap

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Sarah Johnson reports on the gender pay gap

The gender pay gap overall in the UK is 19.1%, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Attempts have been made before to close the pay gap. “Think, Act, Report” was a voluntary reporting initiative launched in 2011. Over 280 organisations signed up, but only four employers published the information. Wonder why?

Statistics can be unreliable, but there is clearly a problem. The government is proposing to address this by introducing mandatory gender pay gap reporting for larger employers. Evidence suggests that, for full-timers under 40, there is little difference between male and female earnings. Hopefully, increased transparency may reduce the remaining gaps.

Section 78 of the Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010) provides a power to create regulations requiring employers with 250 or more “employees” to report gender pay gap information. The government’s consultation on closing the pay gap closed on 6 September. The results are to be published this winter with draft regulations expected in the first half of 2016. There may be phased implementation with

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