The Government confirmed that it would not enforce the usual deadlines for gender pay reporting - 30 March for public sector employers and 4 April for private sector employers.
Please note: the information contained in this legal update is correct as of the original date of publication
As set out in our article dated 27 March 2020, due to the impact of Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, the Government confirmed that it would not enforce the usual deadlines for gender pay reporting - 30 March for public sector employers and 4 April for private sector employers. Therefore, enforcement for the 2019/ 2010 reporting year was suspended entirely.
However, on 23 February 2021, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) announced that, due to the continued effects of the pandemic, enforcement action against organisations that fail to report their gender pay gap will start again on 5 October 2021. EHRC has acknowledged that businesses are still facing challenges brought by the ongoing pandemic but it has confirmed that implementing the October deadline “strikes the right balance between supporting businesses and enforcing these important regulations”.
In light of the above, employers (with 250 or more employees) will need to publish their gender pay gap information for 2020/2021 by 5 October 2021 on the Gender Pay Gap service on the Government website, and failure to do so could lead to unlimited fines after court action.
EHRC has stated that employers are encouraged to submit their data for 2020/2021 before October where possible. However, no enforcement will be taken if employers report the required information by 5 October.
Although gender pay gap information for the year 2019/20 is not required to be provided, employers can still report this information if they have not already done so and wish to do so.
If you require any further information regarding what information has to be published or the reporting process more generally, please do not hesitate to contact us.
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Settlement agreements in an employment context are ordinarily used to provide both parties with certainty following the conclusion of an employment relationship – but what happens when there is alleged discrimination after entering into a settlement agreement?
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