Further to our recent article, the deadline for public sector gender pay reporting closed yesterday. The data, however, shows that the overall median gender pay gap in the public sector has widened slightly from 14% to 14.1%. Meanwhile, private sector employers and voluntary organisations still have until Thursday 4th April 2019, to submit their reporting data. Nevertheless, at the time of writing, just 6002 of the approximately 10,500 employers who are required to publish their data have done so, so far. This amounts to just 56.89%, when compared to the 10,551 organisations who published their data for the year 2017/18. Moreover, the latest data shows that the pay gap has widened in around 40% of private sector companies, compared to last year.
Deadline Passes For Public Sector Gender Pay Reporting
With the deadline for public sector gender pay reporting having passed, an analyses of the data reveals the following:-
- The overall median gender pay gap in favour of men has widened from 14% to 14.1%. This, however, is still lower than last years overall median gender pay gap of 17.9%, when private sector and voluntary organisations are also included in the statistics
- 88.5% of public sector organisations have a median gender pay gap in favour of men.
- 44 of the 50 organisations with the largest public sector pay gaps were multi-academy trusts. Wigston Academies Trust had the largest gap, with a median gender pay gap of 69%. Wimborne Academy Trust was a close second with a gap of 68%.
- The gender pay gap in the universities sector is amongst the highest in the public sector. Loughborough University has the largest gap, with a median gender pay gap in favour of men of 36%
- One of the sectors that has a high incidence of paying women more than men are local councils, with 78 doing so. Three Rivers Council, for example, pays women 50% more than men
- All Government departments have a median gender pay gap in favour of men, except for the Department for Work and Pensions, which has no gap. The department with the largest gap was the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), with a gap of 22.9%
Over 40% Of Private Sector And Voluntary Organisations Still To Report
Whilst the deadline has passed for public sector gender pay reporting, private sector and voluntary organisations still have until the 4th April 2019 to report. However, with just 5 days to go, just 6002 private sector and voluntary organisations have reported so far. With 10,551 such organisations reporting last year, that means that 43.11% have still to report this year. Rebecca Hilsenrath, the chief executive at the Equality and Human Rights Commission, stated in response to this that: "Reporting gender pay gap data is not optional, it is the law. Last year, we saw a large number of companies submit their data in the week before the deadline and on current showing, the same is likely this year."
Research by the BBC has found that compared to last year, the gender pay gap has widened in around 4 in 10 private sector companies, based upon data submitted thus far.
