11/12/2024

In June 2024, we contacted the NI Department of Communities (DfC), which is responsible for introducing the NI Gender Pay Gap Regulations, asking about the expected timeline for the implementation of Gender Pay Gap Regulations. Their response was a vague “in due course.”

Then on 25 November 2024, DfC quietly launched the Consultation on The Gender Pay Gap Information Regulations  to plan how these Regulations will be implemented in NI.

Background

Most people are aware that the Gender Pay Gap regulations require the reporting of differences in pay between male and female employees. These regulations have been in place in Great Britain for seven years and initially it had been envisaged that similar measures would be introduced in NI in and around the same time. Due to a delay with the transfer of functions between NI Departments (in part caused by delays with covid and Stormont being dissolved) the regulations were not implemented and were placed on hold.

The purposes of these regulations in the main are to:

1. Identify gender pay gaps.
2. Analyse the drivers behind these gaps.
3. Explore how employers’ policies and practices may have contributed to these gaps.
4. Encourage employers to take remedial action.

The consultation does note that the Gender Pay Gap in NI is lower than in the rest of the UK. This is largely due to a higher proportion of public sector jobs, where the pay difference is 6.2%. However, in the private and voluntary sectors in NI, the difference is more significant, with females earning 14.8% less than males.

Proposals

The NI Regulations are intended to go further than the original GB Regulations by requiring employers to publish information on workers related to ethnicity and disability. Although there is no legal obligation to record ethnicity or disability, the NI Regulations propose that, when this information is available or the employer is notified, it should be recorded and reported.

The Consultation seeks response on a proposed snap shot date of 5 April each year. The snap shot date is the specific date that businesses base their gender pay gap calculations on payroll data.

The regulations are proposed to apply to employers with 250 or more employees, the same as currently in place in GB. As of June 2024, it is estimated that this would apply to 345 employers in Northern Ireland.

Consultation Details

The consultation is short with only 16 questions seeking views on how the regulations will be implemented, not on whether they will be implemented which is a given. For example, one of the questions asks if the Office of National Statistics (ONS) definition of calculating “pay” should be used.

Timeline

The estimated timeline for implementing these regulations is approximately 18 months for the policy proposals, with laws likely to be passed in early 2027. Therefore, actual reporting would typically begin a year later, in 2028 and data gathered over the previous year.

Consultation Period

The consultation will run from 25 November 2024 until 14 February 2025.

This year, 2024 has been a significant year for employment law, and these regulations will be discussed at the Employers Federation End of Year Gathering on 19 December 2024. If you wish to book on that event please email at john@eefni.org

We very much encourage Members to feed in their views and opinions which will help shape our responses particularly from those with experience of completing gender pay gap reports in other jurisdictions. Any responses are welcome and should be sent to michelle@eefni.org