TheGender Pay Gap Information Bill was analysed this morning at a joint breakfast briefing by McCann FitzGerald and Willis Towers Watson.

The event focused on offering practical guidance on the methodology and resources required for gathering the relevant data, and on how to implement an effective communications strategy.

The steps employers should take now in order to prepare themselves for gender pay-gap reporting were also examined.

The new bill will require employers to publish information relating to employees’ pay to show whether there are pay differentials between men and women, and the scale of such differentials.

The publication of the bill follows Britain’s introduction of similar legislation earlier this year.

Confusion

McCann FitzGerald partner Mary Brassil said “It is important that the gender pay gap should not be confused with the concept of equal pay for equal work, as the existence of a gender pay gap does not necessarily indicate discrimination by employers, or that women are not receiving equal pay for equal work. 

“The gender pay gap is the difference in the average gross hourly pay of women compared with men in a particular organisation, such that it captures whether women are represented evenly across an organisation.” 

“For those organisations reporting a high gender pay gap, this could be seen as less than fully committed to fair pay, promotion and development opportunities for women, making them less attractive as employers, and undermining their ability to recruit and retain key talent,” she said.

Women earn 14% less

Senator Ivana Bacik told the gathering that, “In Ireland, women earn approximately 14% less than men, a figure equating to women in full-time employment working for free for about over one month in every year.”

Tamsin Sridhara of Willis Towers said that regulations in Britain had been very effective in pushing gender diversity onto the agenda at board level.

McCann FitzGerald’s briefing Gender Pay Gap Reporting: Getting it Rightis now available to download.