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Gender Pay Gap Reporting - revealing stats after deadline day

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High proportion publish in final hours, revealing 78% of businesses have a gap in favour of men

 

An estimated 1,500 businesses failed to publish their gender pay gaps by the deadline of midnight on 4 April, according to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

 

More than 10,000 organisations(with 250+ employees) published their gender pay gaps by the deadline, according to government figures. Of these compliant companies, around 1,000 waited until the final day to publish their data. The UK arms of Sony and Warner Bros, as well as beauty company Benefit Cosmetics, were just some of the firms to release their findings in the final hours.

 

“While more than 10,000 employers have complied with the law there are others who have not taken this seriously and now face legal action. Reporting gender pay gaps is not optional; it is a legal requirement as well as being the right thing to do.

 

Final figures for the 10,000-plus companies that did report show that 78% of businesses have a pay gap in favour of men.

 

Among the worst offenders were budget airline Ryanair with a 71.8% gap and Millwall Football Club with an 80% gap, as well as several high street retailers including Karen Millen and Sweaty Betty.

 

Analysis based on organisations’ own categorisation of their businesses showed that construction had the largest sector-wide gap, with an average median pay gap of 25%. The gap was 22% in the finance and insurance sector and 20% in education.

 

Accommodation and food services emerged as the sector with the smallest gap, with an average median pay gap of 1%. This could be attributed to the fact that many firms in this sector use flat pay rates with high numbers of staff on the minimum wage.

 

Now the initial reporting deadline has passed businesses are expected to put “action plans in place to break down the barriers to women’s progression in their organisations”, Home Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities Amber Rudd made clear.

 

The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee has announced that it will question campaigners and companies on issues around compliance as well as the steps businesses are now going to take to tackle their gaps.

 



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