The government has published the long-awaited final draft of the gender pay gap reporting regulations.
The regulations are expected to come into force on 6 April for the independent sector. Public sector employers (including academies) are not currently in scope but the government has indicated its intention to bring in the same obligations.
The regulations apply to all schools with 250 “relevant employees” at the relevant date - the first of which is 5 April. All such schools should be prepared to capture data then, but will then have up until 4 April 2018 to report on it. Five reports will be required:
* The difference in mean pay between genders (expressed as a percentage).
* The difference in median pay between genders (%).
* The difference in mean bonus payments between genders (%).
*The proportion of men and women in that received a bonus.
* The number of men and women in each quartile of the pay range.
We would recommend that schools accompany the reports with a narrative and further information if it would add helpful context.
The final draft leaves some questions unanswered for schools but incorporates amendments that clarify areas that were a cause for concern.
Four new points that schools should be aware of are:
- Calculations to be based on employees in receipt of their usual salary on 5 April 2017: Those staff who are in receipt of sick pay or maternity pay (or similar) at a rate lower than their full salary will not be included in the calculations. This means that the figures will not be artificially distorted by, for example, lots of women being on maternity pay.
- A calculation of hourly rate for staff with irregular weekly paid hours: The regulations prescribe that a 12-week average should be used for calculating the gross hourly rate of pay for staff who do not have regular weekly paid hours. This will be helpful for staff who work irregular working patterns, such as peripatetic staff or exam invigilators.
- Definition of relevant employees: The definition of “relevant employee” has been amended so that it is now expressly clear that the regulations include workers and employees. This means that while genuinely self-employed staff and agency workers will be outside the scope, most other casual staff will be caught.
- Pay quartiles: The final draft Regulations have clarified what a pay quartile is and how to calculate pay quartile bands. Schools will be required to rank employees in order of their pay, from lowest to highest, then divide the workforce into four equal groups based on their gross hourly pay rate and report on the proportion of genders in each group. This shows the gender profile across an organisation and is not affected by a few high earners.
Alice Reeve is a partner at leading education law firm Veale Wasbrough Vizards
