Grace period for gender pay gap reporting

Following last year’s suspension of gender pay gap reporting obligations for 2019/2020, it has been announced that employers now have an additional six months to report their gender pay gap information for the 2020/2021 reporting year.

Ordinarily, public sector organisations and private sector employers covered by the Gender Pay Gap Regulations would have been required to submit their gender pay gap reports by 30 March 2021 and 4 April 2021 respectively.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (ECHR) has the power to investigate employers that fail to report their gender pay gap data on time.

Failing to meet the deadline can lead to unlimited fines after court action.

This year, however, it has been confirmed that enforcement action will not commence until 5 October 2021. In fact, the ECHR has said that enforcement action will commence on 5 October 2021.

It appears, therefore, that employers would be wise to ensure that their reports are submitted by no later than 4 October 2021.

This six month extension has been granted due to the continued effects of coronavirus, and will come as some welcome relief to those organisations tackling other challenges associated with the pandemic.

However, employers are being encouraged to report their gender pay gap data in advance of the October deadline if they can.

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