Employers are reluctant to publish gender pay gap figures

The research found that some employers were struggling to understand the legislation that has been brought in that requires them to report

The revelation in recent media reports that there is a gender pay gap in large, well-known organisations cannot have come as a surprise to most people; however, what may come as a surprise is that many organisations have yet to publish data relating to gender pay and bonus gaps within their organisations, despite regulations in force since April 2017 requiring them to do so before April 2018.

Here we look at research that has been completed into the reporting of this data and the reasons organisations might be reluctant to publish their own data until the last minute.

Research on gender pay gap reporting

Research conducted by XpertHR has found that as few as six per cent of organisations that need to report their gender pay and gender bonus gap data have already done so ahead of the April 2018 deadline.

Despite the lack of reporting, research conducted amongst 128 employers from the private sector has found that more than half of the companies with over 1,000 employees have already compiled the data relating to the gender pay gap but have failed to report it.

Why organisations are delaying their reporting

One of the main reasons for so few organisations reporting their data is because many of them are waiting for others to report first, particularly competitors in the same industries. There are also many practical reasons that were cited in the research for the data not yet being reported.

The research found that some employers were struggling to understand the legislation that has been brought in that requires them to report, while others told the interviewers that they were struggling to find employees who could do the research into gender pay gap data and construct the report itself; however, the main problem that was raised by the organisations surveyed as part of the research was that the data relating to gender pay and gender bonus gaps was held on several systems and bringing it all together was a struggle.

If you are an HR professional within an organisation that has yet to publish its data, it will be important prior to the April 2018 deadline to analyse what is happening with regard to the gender pay gap within your organisation, to work out the reasons behind this, and to establish how the organisation intends to sort out any issues.

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