Irish government gender pay gap guidance and FAQ’s 

The Irish government first published regulations, guidance and FAQ’s for gender pay gap reporting in 2022, and they periodically update these. The guidance, FAQs and regulations, along with a summary of the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021, can be found here.

There is a lot to digest in the material issued by government. If you need help with meeting your obligations on the Act, or developing a wider strategy on either pay equity or broader diversity, equity and inclusion – do please reach out to us.

Read on for a snap shot summary of the rules including which organisations are affected, who needs to take action, what needs to be done, who needs to do it and when they need to do it by.

Affected organisations should assign responsibility for ensuring that the requirements are met: really, this is the first thing that needs to be done. It may or may not be practical or desirable to attempt the calculations in-house, and external support may be required. A lot here will depend on factors like:

• The simplicity or complexity of payroll data
• The level of confidence felt in understanding the regulations and the required calculations
• The level of confidence felt in translating the organisation’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion agenda into a published narrative
• The degree to which an organisation wishes to use the gender pay gap reporting requirements as a springboard for concrete action
• The number of distinct employing entities with an obligation to report within an organisation and the desire to proactively report on group or global figures

Mercer is available to help organisations with every stage of the process, whether on the narrow reporting requirements, on a deeper analysis that also looks at pay equity within roles or on the framing of a diversity, equity and inclusion strategy that covers the gender pay gap amongst other DEI issues. Contact us to find out more.

Organisations will need to publish, in the manner and using the methodology specified by the government.

• The difference between the mean hourly remuneration of employees of the male gender and that of employees of the female gender expressed as a percentage of the mean hourly remuneration of employees of the male gender.
• The difference between the median hourly remuneration of employees of the male gender and that of employees of the female gender expressed as a percentage of the median hourly remuneration of employees of the male gender.
• The difference between the mean bonus remuneration of employees of the male gender and that of employees of the female gender expressed as a percentage of the mean bonus remuneration of employees of the male gender.
• The difference between the median bonus remuneration of employees of the male gender and that of employees of the female gender expressed as a percentage of the median bonus remuneration of employees of the male gender.
• The difference between the mean hourly remuneration of part-time employees of the male gender and that of part-time employees of the female gender expressed as a percentage of the mean hourly remuneration of part-time employees of the male gender.
• The difference between the median hourly remuneration of part-time employees of the male gender and that of part-time employees of the female gender expressed as a percentage of the median hourly remuneration of part-time employees of the male gender.
  
• The percentage of all employees of the male gender who were paid bonus remuneration and the percentage of all employees of the female gender who were paid such remuneration.
• The percentage of all employees of the male gender who received benefits in kind and the percentage of all employees of the female gender who received such benefits.
• The difference between the mean hourly remuneration of employees of the male gender on temporary contracts and that of employees of the female gender on such contracts expressed as a percentage of the mean hourly remuneration of employees of the male gender.
• The difference between the median hourly remuneration of employees of the male gender on temporary contracts and that of employees of the female gender on such contracts expressed as a percentage of the median hourly remuneration of employees of the male gender.
• The respective percentages of all employees who fall within each of:

1. the lower remuneration quartile pay band,
   
2. the lower middle remuneration quartile pay band,
3. the upper middle remuneration quartile pay band, or
4. the upper remuneration quartile pay band, who are of the male gender and who are of the female gender.

Where an organisation has to report, at a minimum the following actions need to be taken:

• The data required to run the required gender pay gap calculations needs to be defined
• A reference date in June needs to be decided on
• Following the reference date, the data needs to be gathered from payroll systems or elsewhere
• Calculations need to be run to arrive at the numbers and statistics required
• A report needs to be prepared, setting out:

1. in the employer’s opinion, the reasons for the differences found and
2. the measures (if any) being taken, or proposed to be taken, by the employer to eliminate or reduce such differences.

• The figures and the report need to be published no later than 6 months after the reference date chosen by the employer.

It may be desirable to go further. Calculating the gender pay gap is one thing; obtaining data that explains why that gap arises is another. In order to understand what factors give rise to the gender pay gap in a given organisation, the employer may wish to run analysis on pay equity – i.e. understanding what gaps may exist for particular roles and levels. This is not required by the Act – but it will help an organisation to understand whether the gap is a feature of different gender representation for different roles and levels, or whether in fact evidence of a gender pay gap also appears within particular jobs.

The gender pay gap report, containing the required metrics and narrative, must be publicly accessible for 3 years from the publication date. The government ultimately intends to make a portal available; pending this employers usually publish on their public websites.

If you wish for help from Mercer in meeting your gender pay gap reporting requirements, or if you simply have questions, you can contact us.

There is strong support for pay equity in Ireland But more action is needed!