Less enthusiasm for pay-transparency rules – MHC
A survey carried out by business-law firm Mason Hayes & Curran shows that just over one in five (21%) Irish employers have taken significant steps to prepare for incoming EU pay transparency rules.
The survey of more than 200 HR professionals was conducted at a joint event with consultancy HR Path.
Three in five employers (61%) said that they had taken ‘some’ steps, while a fifth (19%) had yet to take any action at all.
The EU rules require employers to disclose salary ranges and strengthen equal-pay enforcement to reduce gender pay gaps.
The Irish legislation is expected to be introduced in phases, after a missed transposition deadline of 7 June this year.
Job grading biggest challenge
Almost half of respondents (48%) identified job evaluation and grading as their biggest challenge in preparing for the directive.
Legal interpretation was cited by 27%, while 25% pointed to data and systems readiness.
Catherine O’Flynn (MHC partner, employment law and benefits) said that, while most employers had started taking preliminary steps, only one in five had made substantive changes to how they deal with pay.
“The legislative timeline in Ireland has slowed, but the compliance requirements haven't changed, and employers will face significant internal restructuring once domestic law lands,” she warned.
O’Flynn said that MHC was working with its clients to classify roles, build job frameworks, and ensure that pay decisions were based on objective criteria.
“Organisations that start that work today will avoid a last-minute scramble once the legislation is published," she stated.
Salary information
MHC said that its survey found that salary transparency remained “far from standard practice” in recruitment.
More than half of employers (54%) do not currently disclose salary information in job advertisements. Just 20% always publish pay bands, while 26% do so occasionally.
In addition, 53% of respondents said that they were not currently comfortable with employees discussing salaries with colleagues.
Equal-pay risks
Sarah McDonough (HR Path) said that publishing pay bands was a big change to how most organisations currently approached recruitment.
“Without documented job structures, businesses are exposed to equal-pay challenges and risks. Employers who do the groundwork now, before publication becomes mandatory, get to fix gaps on their own terms," she said.
MHC says that employer enthusiasm for the upcoming pay-transparency regime has dampened since a previous poll in April.
Only a fifth (20%) now expect the rules to exert a positive impact on their organisation – down from 31%.
A quarter (25%) see the rules as an unnecessary administrative burden, compared with 21% previously, while more than half (55%) anticipate a neutral effect – up from 48%.
Access
Lucy O'Neill (MHC senior associate, employment law and benefits) said that some employer scepticism came from “a misconception” about what access the directive actually gave employees.
“Colleagues won't see exactly what a named individual earns. They will be able to access average pay levels, broken down by gender, for people doing the same work or work of equal value, not one another's individual salaries.
“Once employers understand the actual mechanics, the compliance burden tends to look more manageable," she added.