The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has set out its final strategy to enforce the gender pay gap reporting regulations.
Employers with more than 250 employees who have not reported their gender pay gaps by the deadline (30 March for public sector organisations and 4 April for businesses and charities), will face enforcement action that begins when the Commission writes to those who have not complied with the law.
“Those who haven’t reported really are entering the last chance saloon. This is not optional; it is the law and we will be fully enforcing against all companies that do not report,” said Rebecca Hilsenrath, Chief Executive of the EHRC.
“This legislation is in place to bring about better gender equality in the workplace and any employer not complying needs to ask themselves tough questions, re-think their priorities, be prepared for serious reputational damage, and be ready to face a very unhappy workforce.”
Those organisations that have not complied with their obligations will be sent a letter on 9 April and will be given 28 days to comply before an investigation takes place and an unlawful act notice is issued. Failure to comply will ultimately lead to an unlimited fine decided by the courts.
In addition to tackling those who do not report, the EHRC’s enforcement strategy stated: “While we initially intend to drive up reporting by focusing on employers who do not publish any data, we have the means to identify employers who submit statistically improbable data and will consider taking action against them where it is reasonable and proportionate to do so.”
