Gender Pay Gap - Government Publishes Guidance Note On Calculating Pay Gap Metrics

• Published date: 13 May 2022
• Subject Matter: Employment and HR, Contract of Employment, Employee Benefits & Compensation
• Law Firm: William Fry
• Author: Ms Catherine O'Flynn and Jeffrey Greene

On 10 May 2022, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth published guidance for employers on how to calculate their gender pay gap metrics (the Guidance) as required under the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 (the Act).

As we previously reported (here), the Act provides the legislative basis for gender pay gap (GPG) reporting in Ireland and requires organisations to report on their GPG across a range of metrics. While more detailed and binding Regulations under the Act are still awaited, the Guidance sets out a "suggested approach" to calculating GPG metrics to facilitate relevant employers' compliance preparations ahead of the first reporting deadline in December 2022.

The Guidance suggests employers choose a "snapshot date" in June 2022 and report on relevant employees employed on that date. The GPG reporting deadline for relevant employers will be six months after the organisation's chosen snapshot date, namely sometime in December 2022, and the first reporting period will be the 12-month period immediately preceding and including the chosen snapshot date. Employers with over 250 relevant employees on the snapshot date will be required to report on their GPG in December 2022. GPG reporting obligations will extend to employers with over 150 employees from 2024, and to employers with over 50 employees from 2025.

Calculation of GPG Metrics

The Guidance suggests employers calculate the total ordinary pay of each relevant person employed on the chosen snapshot date, in addition to their total bonus pay, total benefits-in-kind and their total hours worked for the reporting period. Employers can then proceed to calculate the percentage of male and female employees who were paid bonuses and who received benefits in kind.

Employers will also need to gather information relating to which employees were full-time employees, part-time employees or on temporary contracts during their reporting...