Are You Ready For The Gender Pay Gap?

• Employers of 50 employees upwards will be required to report the average pay differential between male and female earnings in roles (gender pay gap).
• Employers will be required to report on:
  • The difference in the average hourly rate of pay between male and female employees
  • The difference in bonus pay between male and female employees
  • The proportion of male and female employees who are eligible to be paid a bonus
  • The proportion of male and female employees at four levels in an organisation called quartiles

• It will be an offence to breach the obligation to report the Gender Pay Gap, and there will be a fine of up to €5,000 for a breach.
• At present the average gender pay gap in the Republic of Ireland is 14.9%, and this differs from industry to industry. Employers should review the gender pay gap in their industry and how they compare.
• Employers should take care in carrying out any scoping exercise to clarify the gender pay gap. This information may be sought by employees or by Discovery in a litigation context.
• The Bill is not detailed and is based on the UK model, which is already being implemented on a voluntary basis.

Employers should take pro-active steps to consider their gender pay gap and how they should deal with this as the requirement to report the gap should be in place in the next few months.

“I found the whole process of redundancy stressful. During the redundancy process I found myself overwhelmed at times.

You however were stoic and grounded and I found that helpful“

Anonymous, testimonial 2017