In 2015 and 2016, the government carried out three consultations on proposals to increase transparency around the differences in pay between men and women.
The Equality Act 2010: ‘Gender Pay Gap Information’ and ‘Specific Duties and Public Authorities’ Regulations 2017 came into force on 31 March 2017.
The regulations enforce a duty to publish annual gender pay gap reports of public sector employers with over 250 employees. Multi-academy trusts are likely to have the required number of employees to trigger the duty and The Evolve Trust had 264 employees on the 31 March 2017 (Snapshot day).
The objective of the Equality Act 2010 is to ensure that consideration of equality issues forms part of the routine day-to-day decision making and operational delivery of public authorities. The aim is to ensure better performance of the public sector equality duty as well as increasing transparency and providing authorities with the data needed to target action more effectively.
Whilst both equal pay and the gender gap deal with the disparity of pay women receive in the workplace, they are two different issues:
In the Education Sector, there is a current overall gender pay gap of 26.3%[i].
Public sector employers are required to publish a 'snapshot' of pay information taken on the 31 March each year to include:
Difference between the average hourly rate of pay paid to male and female employees
Difference between the average bonus paid to male and female employees
Proportions of male and female employees who receive bonuses
Relative proportions of male and female employees in each quartile pay band of the workforce.
A report needs to be published in a way that is accessible to the public by no later than 30 March 2018, and at subsequent intervals of not greater than one year thereafter and to publish equality objectives at four-yearly intervals. The Evolve Trust will publish their first report on 29 March 2018 and on the 29 March each subsequent year
The information will assist authorities in considering where women are concentrated in terms of their remuneration and whether there are any blockages to their progression.
The Evolve Trust - Gender Pay Gap Report and Action Plan
[i]Gender Pay Gap: Closing it together. Gender Pay Gap Reporting in the Education Sector – Closing it Together Webinar – 06 March 2018. Government Equalities Office. Jisha Hales and Edward Donkor.