With the first round of gender pay gap reporting now over (phew!) there is lots to reflect on and lessons to be learnt for all stakeholders as we head into reporting obligations for 2018-19.
Preparing Earlier
Like a standoff from an old western movie, the trend in 2017-18 was to wait for everyone else to make the first move in terms of reporting. This saw a huge flurry of employers reporting their results right up until the deadline - something that we are not likely to see again.
One of the key trends from the CIPP’s white paper ‘Gender Pay Gap Reporting – The first year through the lens of the payroll industry’ was that participants wanted to start preparing much earlier. This is something that we are experiencing at Dataplan with a multitude of clients keen to gather data as quickly as possible with a renewed focus and energy on gender pay gap reporting at board level.
Out-of-the-box software solutions to gender pay gap reporting tend to only provide the headline data with no scope for further analysis of explanation. We are busy refining and automating the processes needed to extract the necessary snapshot data to ensure that employee level data can be gathered and presented to reflect increased demand.
Labour Intensive
Despite the snapshot data being extracted from the payroll system, one of the most common complaints was how labour intensive it was to resolve any queries with the data. The root cause of this issue is that the gender pay gap regulations are not readily compatible with current payroll processes. It is likely that the payroll process will need to be revisited and refined if the ultimate goal is to seek full automation with no queries in data.
As part of our gender pay gap service offering, we will identify key areas within your current payroll process that will likely always be a roadblock and nominate solutions to make the reporting process less labour intensive moving forwards.
Additional Analysis
Many clients are keen to dig deeper than the statutory figures in order to enrich the understanding of their pay gap.
Whether you choose to delve further or just look to stay compliant, we can provide you with customisable infographics to display your headline figures, deeper analytics and your narrative statement:
The payroll world never stands still and neither do we. We will work with you to help you prepare earlier, reduce labour intensity and provide additional insight into your gender pay gap.
