Gender Pay Gap Reporting – Frequently Asked Questions

Gender pay gap reporting – frequently asked questions

The gender pay reporting deadline is fast approaching. On 4 April this year, and every year thereafter, employers with 250 employees or more will be required to report on the difference in average male and female pay. These new regulations are part of the government’s efforts to close the UK’s gender pay gap which currently stands at 18.4 per cent.

In January, we hosted a gender pay gap reporting webinar with the Government Equalities Office (GEO) as part of our ongoing work to provide members with information on how to report, explain and improve their gender pay gap. We’ve had lots of interest from members and some very detailed questions. Here’s an answer to one of them.

Recruiters often ask about how to carry out gender pay gap reporting when using umbrella companies, payroll providers or other intermediaries.

The answer to this is that recruitment businesses will need to establish whether they are employers of the individuals who are performing work for their clients. If a recruitment business has either an employment contract or personal services contract with the individuals, then they will be their employer. Thus, they will have to take them into account when carrying out the head count to determine whether they have 250 or more employees. It’s important to remember that even if you use a payroll provider to carry out your payroll administration you are still the employer if you have a contract of employment or personal service contract with the individuals. However, if the umbrella company, rather than the recruitment business, has the contract with the individuals then they will be the employer.

All REC members are required to comply with the REC Code of Professional Practice and be clear with individuals about who their employer is. If you have any questions, please get in touch with our Legal Helpline.

How to report

To report you need to nominate someone to manage the reporting (e.g. a HR Director). This person needs to:

• register your organisation on the government’s online reporting service
• prepare your organisation’s gender pay gap information using the resources available at Acas and our legal guide
• publish this information on your organisation’s website and on the government’s online service by 4 April.

How the REC can help

We have developed a gender pay gap reporting FAQs section on our legal guide which includes answers to key recruitment-specific questions about gender pay gap reporting. You can also listen to our GEO webinar. We will continue to work with the GEO to give advice to members and raise awareness of the reporting requirements including additional information on how to best make use of your narrative statement. The GEO has produced a toolkit on actions you can take to close the gender pay gap which you can access here. 

At our next Inclusive Recruitment Forum on 17 April, we’ll be joined by the Equality and Human Rights Commission to discuss gender pay reporting and the steps you can take to reduce your gender pay gap and use the data to inform clients. To register your attendance, visit our events pages.