Last week was the deadline for organisations to submit their 2022/2023 Gender Pay Gap data. The UK’s latest data is being reported as showing the average gender pay gap at the same level as five years ago.
What is the Gender Pay Gap?
The gender pay gap is usually represented as either a percentage, or a ratio, of the difference between average earnings of male and female employees. However, only public, private and voluntary sector organisations, with 250 or more employees are required to report their gender pay gap.
It is not the same as equal pay which relates to men and women being paid the same for doing the same work or work of an equal value.
What are the 2023 results?
The 2023 results show a snapshot as at April 2022.
Despite an ongoing push for equality, the wage difference for the year 2022/23 is reported as remaining at 9.4%, the same level as in 2017/18 when the mandatory reporting began, but fractionally lower than the reported 9.7% last year for 2021/22.
The data shows that women aged between 50 and 59 have the highest pay gap at 20.8%, meaning they work the equivalent of 76 days for free.
Although in all sectors in the UK 4 out of 5 employers pay men more than women, the gap remains the largest in the banking and finance sector with women earning on average, 22% less than their male colleagues.
Another sector with one of the largest gaps is the public sector at 15.1%. This compares with 8% in the private sector, and both are similar to last year’s figures. For many sectors, the gender pay gap has continued to widen rather than shrink.
How can employers reduce the gap
From the past 5 years of data, what is clear is that transparency and mandatory reporting is not enough on its own to close the pay gap, employers will need to go further than data sharing to make an impact on reducing the gap. Employers need to actively look at their gender pay gap and implement action plans on how they are going to manage it going forwards.
It is known that earnings remain relatively similar during the early parts of careers, however the gap opens once women take time out to have children. It is important for employers to have clear and focused routes for returning mothers to progress their careers, as well as support for them balancing responsibilities especially in the current cost of living crisis. Employers may want to look at their flexible working options or workplace flexibility for men by encouraging uptake on shared parental leave to balance out the childcare disparity.
For more information please contact a member of the Employment Team.
