Howden Employee Benefits has launched new data tool to help employers with gender pay gap reporting.
This new data analytical service is offered through Psyon, part of the wider Howden Benefits and Wellbeing group.
The tool help employers report gender pay and address potential causes of imbalance. It can also help employers report and understand other pay gaps, which may also become statutory in future.
The Government recently concluded a consultation on reporting ethnicity pay gaps, but it has yet to publish its recommendations.
Currently gender gap reporting is a legal requirement for private and voluntary-sector employers with more than 250 employees. Those that fail to provide this data, or inaccurately record it can be fined.
The Psyon Pay Intelligence Service offers two solutions: Psyon Gender Pay Gap Reporting and Psyon Pay Intelligence. Both enable companies to provide greater transparency around pay within their organisations, which can support their employer reputation.
The reporting tool has full regulatory compliance and includes headline findings, as well as a template to help position and communicate the pay gap within the business.
Howden says these tools should also help companies improve their diversity and inclusion strategy by providing detailed and relevant analysis of workforce and pay data.
Gender pay reporting came into force in 2017, although there has yet to be a significant improvement since firms were obliged to report this data. The gender pay gap in 2019 among full-time employees stood at 8.9 per cent, with little change from 2018.
Howden Employee Benefits and Wellbeing director of corporate consulting Cheryl Brennan, says: “Gender pay gap reporting creates transparency and encourages employers to address their activities and aspects of their organisational culture that are driving an imbalance in pay.
“Many employers are investing time and money in a variety of initiatives to reduce their pay gaps, including focused recruitment and retention strategies, and adoption of improved flexible working practices, as well as learning and development activities underpinned by diversity and inclusion agendas.
“However, without a spotlight on the underlying reasons for their pay gaps, businesses run the risk of investing in design and implementation of a high-cost strategy with disappointing results.”
Psyon head of data and analytics Annabel Francis adds: “Workplace diversity and its positive impact on productivity is well-evidenced, yet it remains a challenge for many.
“An increasing trend towards regulation that highlights pay disparity between different demographic groups puts employers in the hot seat, placing them under increasing pressure to disclose pay gaps and how they intend to address them.
“Several organisations are now publishing their ethnicity pay gap data to demonstrate their commitment to transparency, and their commitment to building diverse and inclusive organisations, and others will follow.”
