Gender Pay Gap Reporting

In Assurance

We help you build confidence in your gender pay gap disclosures, analyse root causes of inequality, assure the effectiveness of initiatives designed to address them, and co-develop improvement strategies for a culture where people thrive at work.

What EY can do for you

The gender pay gap data your business discloses is powerful. Supported by detailed analysis and narrative it can:

  • give your investors, employees and other stakeholders insight into levels of equality in your organisation
  • identify any concerns that talent is not being successfully maximised, and help you address them.

Mandatory requirements for UK employers with over 250 staff to disclose their gender pay gap came into force on 6 April 2017.

The first reporting cycle has just been concluded, and our analysis reveals that:

  • men are paid more than women, based on the median hourly pay, in 77% of the 10,462 organisations that had filed by 2 May
  • only 9% of entities reported paying men and women equally
  • based on median bonus pay, 68% of organisations awarded men higher bonus payments.

Many organisations referred to the low numbers of women being appointed to the highest level jobs to explain their pay gaps. In fact, our analysis showed that 65% of organisations reported fewer than 50% women in the upper quartile; 41% reported fewer than 30% in the upper quartile; and 12% reported fewer than 10% at the top.

The initial reporting cycle has shed light on structural inequalities that companies should not ignore. The focus now should be on measures to move the dial and show progress in next year’s disclosures.

In our experience working with organisations to assure their gender pay gap disclosures, it has become clear that many underestimate the regulations’ complexities and the time and effort needed to collate the data and calculate the numbers – and our analysis showed that over 200 entities have restated their disclosures at least once.

How we can help

EY’s Gender Pay Gap Reporting services work with you to build confidence in your gender pay gap disclosures, help analyse problems, assure the effectiveness of initiatives aimed at addressing them, co-develop strategies for continued improvement, and design a culture where people thrive at work.

We can help:

  • identify errors in the way you apply the Regulations to calculate your gender pay gap
  • build and strengthen internal systems and controls for collecting and reporting gender pay gap data
  • increase confidence in the accuracy and completeness of data and build credibility and trust among internal and external stakeholders that you are committed to gender equality
  • Identify problem areas and help you close the gap by suggesting targeted proven interventions.

Our robust approach follows the requirements defined by the International Standard on Assurance Engagements (ISAE) 3000, the recognised standard covering this type of non-financial reporting.

Our Gender Pay Gap event brought employers together to discuss lessons learned from the first Gender Pay Gap Reporting cycle.

Read our Gender Pay Gap reports: