The Regulations provide that private and voluntary sector employers with 250 or more employees will be required to publish information regarding the gender pay gap within their organisation on an annual basis. The first snapshot date will be 5 April 2017 and employers will have 12 months from that date to publish the information.
ACAS chief executive, Anne Sharp, said that “the new requirement provides a greater opportunity for organisations to look at the issue in depth and to consider whether they can do more to develop their talented women and secure the benefits of greater gender diversity at all levels.”
The guidance includes practical information regarding how to calculate and publish the gender pay gap figures and it also outlines methods of reducing the gender pay gap i.e. by promoting family-friendly working, for example. In its guidance, ACAS recommends that employers provide a narrative to accompany the report to show how they intend to address the pay gap in the long term.