New proposed draft legislation on gender pay gap reporting

A Bill has been drafted, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (Gender Pay Gap Information) Bill 2017, which requires employers with 50 or more employees to publish information relating to employee pay, for the purpose of showing whether there are differences in the pay of male and female workers and, if so, the nature and scale of such differences.

The Bill is modelled to a large extent on the equivalent gender pay gap information regulations in the UK.

Under the Irish Bill, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission can put in place a scheme to require such employers to regularly report on their gender pay gap. While the ultimate shape and form of what such a scheme could look like remains to be seen, the Bill makes provision for any contravention of such scheme to constitute an offence attracting a fine of up to €5,000.

Click here to download the Bill 

For further information on gender pay legislation or general advice in relation to employment law, contact Emmet Whelan, or any member of the ByrneWallace Employment Law team.