Navigating the Gender Pay Gap

December 2022 will see the first mandatory reporting of the gender pay gap in Ireland of companies with 250+ employees. Currently numerous organisations are working on finalising the calculations of their figures and preparing their narrative and action plans. To support these preparations Ibec has published a new guide Navigating the gender pay gap.

The main focus of this guide is the interrogation of the data and considering appropriate actions to address the gender pay gap. The guide poses questions, to go beyond the data requested, to understand what is challenging gender representation in the organisation – questions about everything from the language in job advertisements; whether people get stuck at certain levels; processes around remuneration; uptake of family leaves; and how performance management ratings are calibrated? Adding this layer of information to the raw data collected can facilitate identifying the urgent and significant blockers to gender balance in the organisation. It can also help prioritise the actions to take, and where to start in addressing the organisations gender pay gap. The guide features case studies from organisations like Deloitte, An Post, Accenture and the 30% Club showcasing specific initiatives they have implement

A gender pay gap does not indicate discrimination or bias within an organisation, or even an absence of equal pay for equal value work. What it does report is a gender representation gap and whether women are equally represented across an organisation. On its own, gender pay gap reporting alone will not identify or solve the myriad of structural, cultural and policy causes for the differences in participation rates and the significant employment gaps between the genders embedded in the socio-economic makeup of the country. Rather, gender pay gap reporting must be seen as an important first step in delivering the insights and data needed to accelerate necessary actions, to enable more targeted interventions by all stakeholders. It is largely welcomed by business as what gets measured and reported is usually key to sparking action and meaningful change.

The gender pay gap figure is a point in time, the culmination of a variety of decisions and choices made by individuals, organisations and society over many years. The figure itself should be seen as a starting point rather than a destination, and an opportunity to create a more equitable workplace for all. The true value of gender pay gap reporting are the actions that will be taken to tackle the causes and influence change in the outcome. Organisations are only one stakeholder in this process, and while they have a key role to play and lots of actions to take, for real success a ‘whole of society’ approach will be required.

Kara McGann

Head of Social Policy