Gender pay gap reporting ‘a game changer’

The charity believes the gender pay reporting legislation could be a pivotal moment in getting people to talk about pay and is calling on women everywhere to do so.Sam Smethers, chief executive of the Fawcett Society said: “Gender pay gap reporting is a game changer in terms of workplace culture and practices. It forces employers to look at themselves and understand their organisations and it prompts employees to ask some hard questions.“By finding out what their colleagues earn they are then in a position to challenge any pay inequality. It is much more common than people realise.”

Five steps you can take towards more gender balanced pay

To encourage women to seize the day and help deliver on the promise of more openness and discussion around gender pay – and therefore wider issues of horizontal and vertical barriers to pay and career progression and the role of fathers in family life – the Fawcett Society advises employees to:

1. Talk to co-workers about pay – find out what they earn and share information in your team
2. Talk to your manager, ask to see your employer's report and action plan
3. Join a union, or if you are in a union, talk to your union reps about what they are doing on pay equality
4. Take it to your Women's Network if you have one. If you don't, start one
5. Share your experiences – tweet #GenderPayGap and keep the discussion going.

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Other news and features from Relocate Global:

• May vows to beat 'burning injustice' of gender pay gap
• Call for parental leave reforms as policies 'failing fathers'
• Pay gap findings trigger action for third of firms

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Five steps employers can make to address gender pay gaps

In addition, the Fawcett Society is adding its expertise to that offered by representative bodies like the CIPD and advisory organisations like ACAS.For employers who have calculated their gender pay gap figure, it recommends looking into and addressing the root causes of any pay gap and developing an action plan.

1. Do you have more men at the top, which may represent a failure to properly recruit or promote women?
2. Are your female employees mostly in lower-paid roles? Why is those women’s work not better paid, and why are they not being promoted?
3. Has the pay gap reporting process uncovered any discriminatory practices in relation to pay, which could be a legal equal pay issue? If so you are legally obliged to resolve these immediately.
4. Do your recruitment processes need reviewing? Are you advertising jobs as flexible working or offering skilled part-time roles that work for people with caring responsibilities, which are more likely to be women?
5. Finally, you need to create an action plan off the back of this analysis – the Fawcett Society urges all employers to set out what they intend to do to close the gap.

Talking gender pay gaps in global mobility: join Think Women

Starting on International Women's Day, Relocate Global's Think Women community is also capturing some of the energy generated by the gender pay debate and reporting deadline, and the rising awareness of the wider issues to support the professional development of women globally.Some of the issues on the table are around flexible working, family support, education, young women and STEM, and the take-up of fit-for-purpose workplace parental rights.Think Women is part of an initiative to encourage diversity, maximise potential and help alleviate skills shortages. Using Relocate Global’s network, we aspire to improve the working lives of women around the world. We invite you to join us and share your ideas on how this can be achieved.Email Carla Foden or call Fiona Murchie on + 44 (0)1892 891334 to find out more about Relocate's new "Think Women" community.

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Read more about the future workplace in the Winter issue of our magazine 

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For related news and features, visit our Human Resources section. Relocate’s new Global Mobility Toolkit provides free information, practical advice and support for HR, global mobility managers and global teams operating overseas.Access hundreds of global services and suppliers in our Online Directory 

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