Require companies with more than 250 employees to publish more data on the gender pay gap

Our verdict

The government defines the gender pay gap as the “difference in the average hourly wage of all men and women across a workforce”. This is different from unequal pay, which is men and women being paid differently for the same or a similar job, which has been unlawful for over 45 years.

In April 2017, before the general election was called, the government brought into force regulations that required employers with at least 250 employees to publish yearly reports regarding the average pay of their male and female employees. April 2018 was set as the final deadline for publishing pay gap data.

The government has since assembled this into a database that is available to the public. While it was reported that 1557 companies missed the deadline, the Equality and Human Rights Commission has since set out to investigate those who failed to comply with the pay gap regulations. As the government has followed through on requiring companies to “publish more data” on the pay gap, this policy is ‘done’.

Fill your knowledge gap, get the details

• The Gender Pay Gap Explained – Gov.uk
• Gender pay gap reporting: overview – Gov.uk
• Search gender pay gap data – Gov.uk
• 1,500 companies miss gender pay deadline – BBC News
• Gender pay gap reporting – Equality and Human Rights Commission
• Closing the gap: enforcing the gender pay gap regulations – Equality and Human Rights Commission
• ‘Last chance saloon’ for employers to report their gender pay gap – Equality and Human Rights Commission
• Closing the gender pay gap – Equality and Human Rights Commission