The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has warned businesses that they could face a number of sanctions if they fail to comply with gender pay gap reporting regulations, such as unlimited fines and convictions.

The Commission, which is the body responsible for ensuring that all employers with over 250 employees report their gender pay gap statistics, issued the warning as part of its newly published enforcement policy.

The policy – which is open for consultation until 2 February – explains how the Commission will use a range of its powers. For instance: 

  • it may investigate suspected breaches of the regulations by private and voluntary sector employers and offer them the opportunity to enter into a formal agreement to comply as an alternative to continuing with the investigation. Such agreements can themselves be enforced if not complied with.
  • it may issue unlawful act notices against employers who do not accept the offer of an agreement and who are found to have breached the regulations as a result of the investigation. These unlawful act notices will require employers to comply with an action plan which can be enforced through court orders.
  • it may seek summary convictions and an unlimited fine against those who still refuse to comply with a court order.
     

Similar enforcement powers exist in relation to public sector employers in England although the proposals will not apply to public sector employers in Scotland and Wales where there are different gender pay gap reporting requirements. 

Current figures calculate the gender pay gap at 18.4 per cent but the EHRC is encouraging businesses to see their company statistics as only part of the story, with action plans the key to tackling them.

All private and voluntary sector employers with 250 or more employees in England, Wales and Scotland must publish information on their gender pay gap under the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017. All listed public sector employers with 250 or more employees in England must publish the same information under the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017. Similar obligations already existed in Scotland and Wales. 

Public sector employers in England must publish the required information by 30 March 2018. Private and voluntary sector employers must report the required pay gap information by 4 April 2018. This is the first year of gender pay gap reporting and is now an annual requirement by the same dates. 

Jo Seery, of Thompsons Solicitors, commented: “Whilst we welcome the EHRC proposals for enforcing the regulations these are quite protracted. We consider they could be more effective if the EHRC had the power to issue fines at a much earlier stage. After all employers have already had twelve months to prepare and publish their reports.”

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