Scrapping Gender Pay Gap Reporting Once Again Reveals The Government’s True Colours
During the pandemic, many anniversaries and life milestones have been lost. Among them was Equal Pay day on 31 March.
And in another parallel world, 4 April would have been the deadline for companies with over 250 employees to report their annual gender pay gap figures.
But with companies being granted ‘breathing space’ by the government to tackle Covid-19, there will be no expectation for companies to report this year.
Some companies will still do it or have done it — for example, Verizon Media, the parent company of Huffington Post. But others won’t. The government called off obligatory reporting this year on 24th March, and only around a quarter of firms had already submitted their data. So what would the feet-draggers’ incentive be now?
Data shows that companies are only transparent, by and large, when they are forced to be. The UK claims to have among the highest numbers of companies who report their gender pay gaps — then again, the UK is one of the only countries in the world to make companies publish that information. France has the world’s highest percentage of women on boards (44%) thanks to a 40% quota. Regulation works.
Five years ago, the proposal for pay gap reporting was merely percolating in the mind of former Minister for Women and Equalities Jo Swinson. Now her successor, Liz Truss, who pursues deregulation with religious zeal, seems to want to smash it to bits.
“We recognise that employers across the country are facing unprecedented uncertainty and pressure at this time,” she said in a joint statement with Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) Chair David Isaac. “Because of this we feel it is only right to suspend enforcement of gender pay gap reporting this year.”
So, what is the great burden on companies that the government wants to avoid?
The EHRC online portal asks for 14 data points, including the mean and median gender pay gap in hourly pay, and the bonus gender pay gap.
It’s the kind of information companies...
