Mar 11, 2016 - (these are primarily the Freedom of Information Act 2000 [FOIA], the Data Protection Act. 1998 [DPA] ...
Mandatory Gender Pay Gap Reporting Responding to this Government consultation Before completing this form please refer to (a) the Government response to its previous consultation on closing the gender pay gap and (b) the current consultation on mandatory gender pay gap reporting. The closing date for responses is 11 March 2016. Responses received after this date will not be considered.
Disclosure of responses Information provided in response to this consultation, including personal information, may be subject to publication or disclosure in accordance with the access to information regimes (these are primarily the Freedom of Information Act 2000 [FOIA], the Data Protection Act 1998 [DPA] and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. The Government may publish responses received from organisations. If you want other information that you provide to be treated as confidential, please be aware that, under the FOIA, there is a statutory code of practice with which public authorities must comply and which deals, among other things, with obligations of confidence. In view of this it would be helpful if you could explain to us why you regard the information you have provided as confidential. If we receive a request for disclosure of the information we will take full account of your explanation but we cannot give an assurance that confidentiality can be maintained in all circumstances. An automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system will not, of itself, be regarded as binding on the department. The Department will process your personal data in accordance with the DPA and in the majority of circumstances this will mean that your personal data will not be disclosed to third parties.
Latest revision of this document: https://library.prospect.org.uk/id/2016/00613 1 This revision: https://library.prospect.org.uk/id/2016/00613/2016-03-10
YOUR DETAILS Please complete the following:
Name
Jane Copley
Address
Prospect, New Prospect House 8 Leake St
Address 2 London City SE1 7NN Postal Code UK Country
[email protected] Email address 0207 90206697 Contact number
Are you completing this consultation as an (tick one):
Individual √
Organisation
2
If you are responding on behalf of an organisation, please complete the following: Company name
Prospect
Company address
New Prospect House
Address 2
8 Leake St
City
London
Postcode
SE1 7NN
Country
UK
Email
[email protected]
Contact number
0207 902 6697
Number of staff in company
Please select what type of company it is (tick one): Business representative organisation/ trade body Charity or Social Enterprise Business Legal representative Local Government Professional body Public Sector √
Trade Union or Staff Association Other, please specify
3
YOUR RESPONSE What, if any, modifications should be made to these draft regulations? To inform our consideration of any proposed modification(s), please explain your response and provide supporting evidence where appropriate.
Prospect believes that the duty on reporting should apply to all employers and that reporting by job role, grade and pay band should be covered. Whilst overall figures are helpful for general social policy purposes, they do not help to adequately identify the real inequality and are not helpful in addressing claims under the Equality Act, where it is necessary to broadly compare like with like. Prospect acknowledges that the regulations will require reporting on overall salaries and in quartiles, and while these are likely to highlight promotion and gender bias issues, they will not necessarily reveal pay issues. The lack of requirement to report on part-time/full-time differentials is also not considered to be beneficial, as it is felt that essential data is likely to be obscured. The gender pay gap for part-time workers is significant and we would be concerned that publishing this by quartiles would produce the effect of hiding disparities within pay bands. There is also an absence of incorporation of overtime, which it is felt serves to further obscure the overall complexion of data. Prospect believes that comprehensive guidance will be required in relation to narrative and that clarity is required on metrics. It is essential that progress is not only recorded, but measured in such a way that is accessible and that serves the objective of sustaining momentum. In order to facilitate this, we believe that there should be an accompanying requirement for employers to publish what steps they intend to take to reduce any identified gaps. We furthermore believe that there should be a requirement to consult with a recognised trade union over collection of data and to provide the outcome to the trade union and to all employees within the organisation. In respect of reporting requirements Prospect is concerned about the lack of any meaningful sanction for employers that fail to comply with the duty to report. While it accepts that the Equality Act 2010 can only confer the power to investigate noncompliance, the fact remains that it cannot take action to ensure compliance. The potential for reputational damage or public embarrassment is insufficient to incentivise employers to publish data and this, coupled with the lack of any statutory questionnaire process, leaves a vacuum. Prospect believes that a lack of penalty on non-compliant employers may curtail the envisaged effectiveness of the process of gender pay gap data publication. Prospect also believes that this serves to further reinforce the call for reinstatement of the Equal Pay questionnaire. Prospect believes that gender pay gap data should be included in annual reports. By doing so, data would be additionally provided to remuneration committees and shareholders and would have wider coverage within organisations more generally,
4
which would be preferable to confining access to those specifically seeking it via general internet search. Prospect also believes that data should be retained for a minimum period of six years in order to be able to recognise consistent pay gaps and more accurately establish emergent trends, and also to support and match the arrears period for any equal pay claims.
5
Thank you for your time in completing this consultation.
You may email or post your completed response. By email:
[email protected] By post: Gender Pay Gap Consultation Government Equalities Office 1st Floor Sanctuary Buildings 20 Great Smith Street London SW1P 3BT
6
