The Government has responded to the report published by the House of Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee on the gender pay gap in August 2018. The response provides some light on the Government’s thinking for the future of gender pay gap reporting. In short:
- The Government is not currently proposing to reduce the threshold at which a company has to report gender pay gap information. The Committee had recommended reducing the threshold from 250 to 50 employees, but the Government believes this would be burdensome for small and medium-sized businesses.
- Neither has it taken up suggestions to require reporting based on deciles (currently reporting is on a quartile basis) or to include part-time statistics. It has, however, said that any amendments to these elements would be subject to a period of public consultation.
- The Government has no plans to extend the regime to profit-share received by partners from partnerships and LLPs. However, it is proposing to alter its guidance for future reporting periods to clarify how partnerships and LLPs can voluntarily disclose pay gap data to assist stakeholders.
- Finally, the Government appreciates the Committee’s recommendation of aligning gender pay gap reporting with other business reporting requirements. However, it says there is currently no other common reporting requirement that would “logically align” with gender pay gap reporting.
