Did you miss the gender pay gap reporting deadline?

Recent press around the gender pay gap continues to highlight how widespread the issue still is. Government-mandated legislation was introduced in 2017 to help address this, forcing all companies with over 250 employees to declare any gender pay gap and publicise the information. With the reporting deadline now passed, organisations have been under pressure to provide accurate pay information, as well as context surrounding their data – and this includes academies and multi-academy trusts.

With a heavy focus on numbers and statistics, the accuracy of all data sets published is essential. For each company, six calculations need to be made:

• mean gender pay gap in hourly pay
• median gender pay gap in hourly pay
• mean bonus gender pay gap
• median bonus gender pay gap
• proportion of males and females receiving a bonus payment
• proportion of males and females in each pay quartile

Organisations must gather data from payroll for a specific date each year and calculate the statistics above for submission to government. The results must be published on the employer’s website, as well as a government website, and should be accompanied by a written statement by an appropriate person, such as the chief executive. However, with sophisticated payroll and analysis software, such as that provided by IRIS Financials, this can all be done quickly and simply.

Data accuracy is clearly essential, especially with reporting of this nature; it is also important to analyse the data to really understand what the figures say about your organisation, and even compare against others in your industry. IRIS Financials’ diverse functionality, within its IRIS Analytics solution, presents data in a way that is easily digestible and in formats suitable for various audiences.

Employers have the option to include a narrative with their calculations; this should generally explain the results and give details about actions being taken to reduce or eliminate any gender pay gap. Context surrounding the above calculations is key as it can explain and neutralise the initial impact of the figures. With IRIS Financials’ PS People solution, additional data can also be presented in a simple and clear manner which could aid with the report’s narrative. Context around the findings such as the split between male and female employees across an organisation, which, if there are more male employees in the top quartile of the company, could help explain larger pay gaps. All these types of data sets are easily manipulated and presented, providing the right context for results and reporting.

With the annual deadline being 30 March for public sector organisations, and 4 April for private organisations, it’s essential organisations don’t leave themselves vulnerable to penalties by missing the date.

Find out more on how IRIS Financials can help you to meet the deadline through analysis and functionality here.