Gender pay gap reporting consultation

15 February 2019

An Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) consultation on measures to enforce the reporting of organisations’ gender pay gaps closed on this date.

The EHRC’s draft policy document on enforcement says that non-compliance with the regulations will initially be dealt with informally. Employers will need to report their gender pay gap within 42 days of receiving a letter from the EHRC. If this does not happen, the EHRC will investigate whether this amounts to an “unlawful act”, and the employer will be offered the option of a written agreement on compliance. If this option fails, organisations must prepare an action plan for remedying the breach and, if they do not do so, the EHRC could apply to the courts for enforcement. Failure to comply with the court order could be subject to an unlimited fine.

The regulations contain no enforcement penalties; the current proposals are based on the supposition that failing to comply with them is a breach of the Equality Act 2010, and some legal commentators maintain that gender pay reporting is beyond the Act’s scope. However, law firms have warned that the risk of reputational damage to organisations that do not comply is a greater threat than enforcement action.

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