The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has begun naming and shaming organisations that have failed to report their gender pay gap on time.
The Commission has named three organisations that failed to report their gender pay gap information on time for the second year running. It also intends to name any other employers that have still not reported this year’s information on Monday 20 May and will then begin formal investigation proceedings against them.
The three organisations that failed to report their pay gap information on time are: Charlotte Tilbury Beauty Limited; Northern Automotive Systems Ltd; and Typhoo Tea Ltd. The EHRC said that it had already issued warnings to these businesses, which all filed late reports last year and, at the time of writing, had not yet filed for this year.
These organisations now face the next stage of statutory investigation as a result of their failure to publish on time again this year. They have 14 days (from 10 May) to comment on EHRC’s draft terms of reference for the investigations.
The investigations will consider whether the companies are breaking the law by failing to publish their gender pay gap information. If so, they will be required to publish the figures immediately and organisations that do not cooperate could be issued with a formal notice which is enforceable in court and with an unlimited fine.
Rebecca Hilsenrath, the EHRC’s Chief Executive said: “To tackle gender inequality in the workplace we first need transparency. All employers with 250 or more employees have to publish their gender pay gap information where everyone can see it. It’s the law and we take very seriously indeed any failure to do so, particularly for two years in a row.
“These employers are not only facing investigations by the regulator, they are sending a message to their staff that they don’t care about equality and are exposing themselves to serious reputational damage.”
The deadline for publishing gender pay gap information, which must be accessible to all employees, the public and on the government’s official portal, is midnight on 30 March for public sector employers and midnight on 4 April for private and voluntary sector employers. 10,738 organisations have reported their gender pay gaps for this year.
