From apprenticeships and qualifications to professional development and employability skills. Supporting learners, partners, and centres with tools to deliver, assess, and grow.
Join a professional community committed to excellence in management and leadership. Access exclusive resources, and recognition pathways including Chartered Manager.
Connect, celebrate, and lead with CMI’s vibrant community. From events and awards to networks and campaigns, get involved and help shape the future of management.
Stay informed with expert insights, thought leadership, and the latest in management. From in-depth features to practical guidance, explore the ideas shaping today’s workplace.
Learn about CMI’s mission, values, and impact. From our Royal Charter to governance, careers, and sustainability commitments, discover who we are and what drives us.
20 April 2017 -
New rules on gender pay gap reporting, first outlined in 2015, came into force on 5 April. They require every employer with over 250 employees to publish six metrics that may – in many cases – shred their claim to be an equal opportunities employer.
You have until April next year to publish this data but, before you sigh with relief, your report has to be based on what people were paid in April 2017. So, if your gender pay gap isn’t going to reflect well on the company, that 18-month grace period between announcement (2015) and implementation (now), during which you could have got your house in order, has passed.
You may, of course, be unconcerned. Doubtless you’ve been running the numbers for years and are quietly confident about your own gender pay gap numbers.
If so, you’re in the minority: when XpertHR surveyed employers at the turn of the year, just 6.2% said they had been formally monitoring their pay gap before the regulations were announced.
Now I should point out that a further one in three (33.2% to be exact) said they monitor their gender pay gap “informally”, but I cannot tell you how often “informally” translates as: “Well, no, we don’t, but it’s too embarrassing to admit that.”
Over the past year, XpertHR has been carrying out these calculations on behalf of employers, and many have been taken aback at the extent of their gender pay gap. In fact, it appears there are lots of company pay gaps, around half of which are worse than the Office for National Statistics’ estimate of 20% for the whole UK economy.
Read more: Find out who CMI's Blueprint for Balance can help
The problem is particularly marked in the finance sector. (There is a mass of material online about the differences between unequal pay and gender pay gaps.) If you do find you have a pay gap to report (the requirement being that it appears on your company website for the next three years), there will be consequences.
You may think: “Hey, 10% – that’s pretty damn good!” But will your people agree? Aren’t your employees (and those thinking about applying for a job with you) going to ask themselves why you pay men 10% more than women?
Of course, like for like, you probably don’t. But, unless you understand those numbers, get your communications plan in place and are willing to explain what the gender pay gap is all about, the reasons your organisation has one and what, if anything, you are going to do about it, you’ll invite disgruntlement.
So what should you be telling people about your gender pay gap?
You cannot sort out the UK’s gender pay gap alone, but you can begin to look at your recruitment practices, whether your job requirements can be met in other ways, and the speed with which men and women progress through the ranks.
The government has threatened the big stick of enforcement action for those who do not comply with this new law. But the real impetus is that your reputation is on the line.
If you don’t tell your own story, someone else will tell it for you.
For more information or to request interviews, contact CMI's Press Team on 020 7421 2705 or email press.office@managers.org.uk
› The 5 Greatest Examples of Change Management in Business History
› Four companies that failed spectacularly, and the lessons of their premature demise
› 6 companies that get employee engagement – and what they do right
› 4 Signs That Racism May Be An Issue In Your Workplace
› How to build an Effective Team: focus on just 3 things