Gender pay gap reporting
The gender pay gap is the difference in the average hourly wage of men and women across a workforce. The Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 requires organisations to report on their hourly gender pay gap across a range of metrics. It will impact public and private sector employers with more than 250 employees and it will be extended to organisations with 50 or more employees.
What is the gender pay gap?
The Gender pay gap legislation is part of a package of measures announced in the National Strategy for Women and Girls 2017-2020. The legislation will become an important aspect of an organisation’s diversity and inclusion strategy.
The gender pay gap is the difference between the average hourly wages of men and women in an organisation, regardless of their seniority.
Gender pay gap is not the same as equal pay; it is a different but connected issue. Equal pay relates to the prohibition of pay differences between men and women for “like work”, “work of equal value” or “work rated as equivalent”. Such variations are not permitted under Irish law and employers are required to address and resolve this.
Mandatory pay gap reporting is being introduced in Ireland. It will require organisations to publish the pay gap between woman and men on an annual basis.
Gender pay gap reporting only apply to employers with 250 or more employees for the first two years after their introduction. In the third year, the Regulations will also apply to employers with 150 or more employees. After three years the Regulations will apply to employers with 50 or more employees. The Regulations will not apply to employers with fewer than 50 employees.
The Minister has indicated that a central website onto which employers will be required to upload their information will be established in 2023, however, for reporting in 2022, employers are only obliged to report on their website (or make it available for inspection during normal business hours).
Reporting date for 2022
Employers must choose a ‘snapshot’ date in June 2022. They then have up to 6 months to prepare their calculations before the reporting deadline which is set at 6 months following the snapshot date. The remuneration data on which the calculations for reporting are based will reflect employees’ remuneration for the 12-month period that precedes the chosen snapshot date.
The reporting deadlines will vary for each employer based on their chosen snapshot date but at the latest will be a date in December 2022. Thereafter reporting will be annual.
Reporting requirements
- Mean hourly remuneration gap
- Median hourly remuneration gap
- Mean bonus remuneration gap
- Median bonus remuneration gap
- Mean hourly remuneration gap of part-time employees
- Median hourly remuneration gap of part-time employees
- Mean hourly remuneration gap of temporary contract employees
- Median hourly remuneration gap of temporary contract employees
- % of male employees who were paid bonus remuneration & % of female employees who were paid bonus remuneration
- % of male employees who received benefits in kind & % of female employees who received benefits in kind
- Percentage of males and females when divided into four quartiles ordered from lowest to highest pay
- Lower remuneration quartile pay band
- Lower middle remuneration quartile pay band
- Upper middle remuneration quartile pay band
- Upper remuneration quartile pay band
The Mean Pay Gap
The mean gender pay gap is the difference between wome’s mean hourly wage and men’s mean hourly wage. The mean hourly wage is the average hourly wage across the entire organisation.
The Median Pay Gap
The median gender pay gap is the difference between women’s median hourly wage (the middle paid woman) and men’s median hourly wage (the middle paid man). The median hourly wage is calculated by ranking all employees from the highest paid to the lowest paid, and taking the hourly wage of the person in the middle.
The Quartiles
Pay quartiles are calculated by splitting all employees in an organisation into four even groups according to their level of pay. Looking at the proportion of men and women in each quartile gives an indication of the gender representation at different levels of the organisation
Gender Pay Gap Reporting FAQ’s
Who is it relevant to?
Gender pay gap reporting will apply to employers with 250 or more employees initially. This threshold will reduce to 150 employees or more within two years, and finally, those with 50 or more within a further year. It will apply to the public as well as the private sector.
Where is it reported?
The Minister has indicated that a central website onto which employers will be required to upload their information will be established in 2023, however, for reporting in 2022, employers are only obliged to report on their website (or make it available for inspection during normal business hours).
What if a organisation decides not to comply?
The legislation includes several measures to tackle non-compliance. These measures include the facility to apply for an order from the Circuit Court or Workplace Relations Commission compelling an employer to comply.
How to prepare for reporting?
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