United Kingdom Gender Pay Gap Reporting: What You Need to Know

To find the full text of the global pay reporting law in the UK, refer to the Equality Act 2010: Schedule 19 (consolidated) – April 2011. You can also refer to the Equality Act 2010: Guidance, and Equality Act 2010: how it might affect you.

Yes, if your organisation has more than one legal entity, you must submit a gender pay gap report for each entity. 

A group that has submitted separate gender pay gap data for more than one legal entity can also report combined data for the entire group as well as additional information in a supporting narrative alongside your published report.  

Syndio’s Global Pay Reports will create separate reports by legal entity and will also allow you to create a consolidated report.  

The requirement in the UK focuses primarily on gender. The reporting requirements and metrics are designed to assess and address the gender pay gaps within organisations. 

While the law doesn’t explicitly require reporting on race/ethnicity pay gaps, many organisations analyse race and ethnicity gaps as well as part of their pay transparency strategy, where it is permitted by law. 

Syndio’s PayEQ solution allows you to analyse pay equity and opportunity gaps across multiple dimensions, including race, gender, ethnicity, age, disability, and more. This provides a comprehensive understanding of how different groups are affected by your policies and practices.

No, only companies with 250 or more employees on the snapshot date are legally required to report their gender pay gap data. The snapshot date is 31 March for most public authority employers, and 5 April for everybody else. Organisations with fewer than 250 employees during this period are not required to report this data, but they may choose to do so.

The United Kingdom’s pay gap report covers all employees employed by the organisation on the snapshot date, including part-time and job-sharing employees, employees on leave, self-employed individuals, and others. Some employees are excluded. Syndio provides Global Pay Reports customers with detailed guidance on which employees are excluded.

The pay gap report in the United Kingdom focuses on two pay components: hourly pay and bonus pay. Syndio provides Global Pay Reports customers with detailed guidance on which pay components to include.

Failing to meet the gender pay gap reporting requirements in the UK carries both legal and reputational risks:

• The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has the authority to take enforcement action against employers that do not report their gender pay gap data on time or submit inaccurate information. This may result in court orders and fines.
• Public perception: employers that fail to comply with the reporting requirements face potential reputational damage. Transparency in pay practices is increasingly important to stakeholders, including employees, investors, and the public.
• “Late Badge” on Gender Pay Gap Service: the government’s Gender Pay Gap Service will publicly display a “late badge” on the profile of any employer that fails to report and publish their data for any year in which they were required to do so. This badge serves as a visible marker of non-compliance, potentially impacting an organisation’s reputation and employer brand.

Syndio provides software and expert professional services to help multinational organisations comply with pay equity, pay reporting, and pay transparency regulations. Syndio helps you analyse, remediate, explain, and report on gaps so you can stay on top of compliance in the UK. Learn more: https://synd.io/global-pay-reporting/.

The law in the UK analyses pay gaps, not pay equity. What’s the difference? 

An unadjusted pay gap (also called an “uncontrolled pay gap”) is the difference between the median or mean pay of two groups, such as men and women.

• Median pay gap: Imagine lining up all the earnings for two groups of employees (e.g., men and women) from lowest to highest. The median pay gap is the difference between the middle earnings in each line. It’s a good indicator of typical pay differences.
• Mean pay gap: This compares the average earnings of each group. However, it can be skewed by extremely high or low earners.

Pay equity, or the adjusted pay gap, accounts for factors that can legitimately explain differences in pay, such as performance ratings, tenure with the company, or location.

The median and mean pay gaps provide valuable insights, but they don’t tell the whole story. There may be legitimate reasons for pay differences between employees. The adjusted pay gap (pay equity) accounts for these factors, revealing whether a pay disparity truly exists (which is unlawful in many countries) so you can take corrective action. Syndio’s PayEQ software is the trusted solution for global enterprises to rapidly identify, address, and prevent pay disparities.