The number of UK employers that failed to meet their obligation to report their gender pay gap fell by 71% to only eight companies in 2023, from 28 in 2022 and 47 in 2019*, says leading specialist employment law firm.
Nicola James, partner at the firm, says that the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), who is responsible for “policing” the gender pay gap reporting rules, has achieved this high level of compliance without having to issue a single fine.
Nicola James explains that in the last two years there have been no “repeat offenders” of companies failing to publish their gender pay gap data (ie businesses that failed to report properly in one year then failing to publish again the next year) suggesting that the EHRC’s policy of naming and shaming companies that fail to report is helping with compliance.
James says: “The EHRC has taken a softly, softly approach to enforcement – rather than issuing fines at the first opportunity, that approach seems to have delivered impressive results. This is unlikely to be the only factor however driving compliance and should to be viewed in the context of the increasing global focus on pay transparency and pay equity.”
