Following the introduction of the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth published a guidance note on calculating the Gender Pay Gap (GPG) metrics on May 10.

This week the government published the awaited Regulations to give effect to the GPG reporting in Ireland. Below is a summary of the Gender Pay Gap (GPG) Information Reporting: Your questions answered:

Which employers are affected?

The reporting requirements under the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 will be rolled out incrementally based on the number of employees in the organisation. Here is the timeline:

• +250 employees: 2022
• +150 employees: 2024
• +50 employees: 2025

The Act does not require employers with 50 or fewer employees to report on GPG.

What employers with more than 250 employees must know and do?

You are required to:

1. Pick a snapshot date, any day in June 2022.

2. Do a headcount of all persons you employ on that snapshot date, including employees not rostered to work on that date and employees on leave. The type of contract of the workers determines whether they are deemed ‘employees’. The calculations must then be based on those employees’ remuneration for the 12-month period preceding the snapshot date. Therefore, the employees leaving the organisation after the snapshot date do not affect this reporting.

3. Produce your GPG information within six months of your snapshot date.

4. Publish your GPG information six months after your snapshot date. For example, if 24 June is your snapshot date, your reporting deadline is 24 December. You need to publish the report on your website or in a manner accessible to all your employees and the public.

What should the report contain?

• The mean and median hourly wage gap
• Data on bonus pay
• The mean and median pay gaps for part-time and temporary contract employees
• The proportions of male and female employees in the lower, lower-middle, upper-middle, and upper quartile pay bands

You are also required to publish a statement detailing the reasons for the gender pay gap in your company and what measures you will take to eliminate or reduce that pay gap. Detailed instructions on calculations are available in the guidance note.

Conclusion

Employers have a short time to prepare for the coming requirements. On Thursday 16 June, Addleshaw Goddard will partner with workplace compliance experts, Legal Island to deliver a webinar on the new Irish gender pay gap reporting requirements. Maura Connolly, Head of Employment at Addleshaw Goddard, Ireland and Sarah Harrop, Employment Partner at Addleshaw Goddard in the UK will speak at the webinar. To find out more and register, click here.