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The UK must catch up with other countries on gender pay gap reporting if it’s to see faster progress on equality between women and men.
This report, by the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership and Fawcett Society, analyses gender pay gap reporting legislation in 10 countries around the world. It was supported by research provided on a pro bono basis by law firms Latham & Watkins, Castrén & Snellman and BBA Fjeldco, with facilitation by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Compared with other nations, the UK is “unique in its light-touch approach” to asking employers what actions they’ll take to address any identified gender pay gaps, the report says.
The report also calls for the minimum employee threshold for gender pay gap reporting to be lowered. In England, the reporting requirement only applies to private and public sector employers with at least 250 workers.
This is five times the median of 50 for the countries analysed, and second only to Germany, meaning pay disparities in smaller companies are going undetected. By contrast, in Sweden the threshold is just 10 workers.