Gender pay gap reporting: We’re here to help

Learn how Mercer can help you successfully report and publish your gender pay gap results to comply with new government legislation.
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What is gender pay gap reporting? 

The Gender Pay Gap Information Act was signed into Irish law on July 13th 2021.  Under the Act, certain employers will be required to report and publish a range of gender pay gap information relevant to their organisation.

We’re here to help you meet your gender pay gap reporting obligations

2022

From 2022 employers in Ireland with 250 or more employees need to report their gender

2024

From 2024 the requirements will apply to employers with 150 or more employees

2025

From 2025 it will apply to those with 50 or more employees

Mercer can help you with gender pay gap reporting

There are a number of key elements employers need to consider when conducting their mandatory gender pay gap reporting. Firstly, this is going to be a yearly process and not a once off occurrence, so it needs to be fully understood and streamlined into your business activities.


It is not just about ensuring you gather all the correct data necessary to make your calculations and then producing your results, you need to be able to manage the narrative as you want to ensure any gaps are adequately explained. You also need to remember that your gender pay gap report will be published, so it will be available to any member of the public. Both your current employees and any potential new employees can search for and avail of this information at any given time. It is not only a legal requirement for your company, it is to ensure you are treating all of your employees equally.

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What is required when publishing your gender pay gap results?

  •  The difference between hourly remuneration of male employees and female employees (mean and median).
  •  The differences between bonus remuneration of male employees and female employees (mean and median).
  • The differences between the median hourly remuneration of male part-time employees and female part-time employees.
  • The percentage of all male employees and all female employees who were paid bonus remuneration.
  • The percentage of all male employees and all female employees who received benefits in kind.
  • The differences between hourly remuneration of male employees on temporary contracts and female employees  on such contracts (mean and median).
  • The proportions of male and female employees in the lower, lower middle, upper middle and upper quartile pay bands.

 
  • Employers must publish a narrative including:
    o   The reasons for the differences
    o   Measures being taken (or planned to take) to eliminate
         or reduce differences
  • The gender pay gap information must be published on the employer’s website or in some other way that is accessible to all its employees and to the public for three years.
  • The government ultimately envisages making a portal available for publication.

  • The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) can apply for Circuit Court orders requiring a person to comply with the legislation.
  • An employee can make a complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission but no compensation or sanctions are defined in the regulations.

Mercer’s four step approach to mandatory gender pay pap reporting

  • 1. Kick off data request

    Mercer will arrange a kick-off meeting to discuss and explain the planned approach. We will then share a simple data template for you to complete and return to us via our secure data exchange platform.

  • 2. Review and data validation

    Once the data is received, Mercer will review and validate with you via a video conference or through email exchange with questions/answers.

  • 3. First draft of results

    Mercer will run the calculations and produce the first set of results. The results will be shared and discussed during a video conference.

  • 4. Final report

    An eventual adjustment will be made and the results report will be finalized.

Managing the gender pay gap narrative

Your gender pay gap report is likely to be of interest to your key stakeholders including employees, clients, shareholders and the media.

To manage the narrative you will need to understand and explain the factors driving any identified pay gap and set out plans for any remedial actions needed. Mercer can support you to to look behind the headline numbers and understand the root causes through:

An Internal Labour Market map is a simple, yet powerful, “system-at-a-glance” descriptive summary of key aspects of an organization’s workforce dynamics. It highlights areas of risk and the need for further examination. Representation and differences in roles is a key driver of pay gaps.

Internal Labour Market maps can be created for an entire organization or for a specific segment and can be used to depict the flows of different groups (Gender, Age, etc.) throughout an organization. 

The gender pay gap does not measure whether pay is equitable once job roles and levels are taken into account. Equal Pay Analysis can help to illustrate, regardless of the existence of a Gender Pay Gap, whether an employer is treating people equitably within given roles. The analysis includes an overview of corrective measures identified, and job level specific outliers, with recommendations for remediation actions. 

Detailed testing of pay programmes to evaluate the extent to which these are delivering fair and equal outcomes by gender, to identify any potential root cause of inequity. This will help identify the impact of wider compensation elements, such as annual bonuses or long term incentives, along with the effect of promotions and performance ratings. Mercer will also review pay structures and pay policies.

Mercer will organise a workshop to establish the themes that your organisation wishes to emphasise as part of the Gender Pay Gap narrative. On gathering information about your aims, programmes and work practices, we will create a draft narrative, which will then be refined in consultation with you prior to publication. We aim to produce a narrative that sets out to your people and your wider stakeholders the reasons for your gender pay gap, the mitigating steps that you plan and your wider DEI vision and strategy.

      What you don’t measure, you can’t manage. Gender pay gap reporting will give employers valuable insights into their internal pay and talent dynamics. The next steps will be about understanding the root causes and to take any identified remedial action.
      Danny Mansergh

      Head of Career Consulting at Mercer Ireland

      We’re here to help you meet your gender pay gap reporting obligations!

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        Contact us about your gender pay gap reporting today!

        We will help you to conduct your GPG activities carefully and correctly within the government guidelines and timeline.