Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

CoronavirusEquality, diversity and inclusionGenderLatest NewsGender pay gap

Just half of employers publish 2018-19 gender pay gap

by Ashleigh Webber 29 May 2020
by Ashleigh Webber 29 May 2020 Many women have taken on the bulk of childcare duties during lockdown
Shutterstock
Many women have taken on the bulk of childcare duties during lockdown
Shutterstock

Only half of businesses chose to publish their gender pay gap reports for the year ending April 2019 – a decision that could see gender equality ‘pushed back a generation’.

According to Business in the Community, which published its analysis of gender pay gap reporting on the 50th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act, just 5,081 organisations had published their 2019 pay gap shortly after the reporting deadline had passed, compared with 10,828 organisations that had published by last year’s deadline.

Gender pay gap and lockdown

Gender pay gap reporting enforcement suspended this year

Coronavirus will widen gender gaps at work and home

Lockdown pressures on mothers could stall gender pay gap progress

Shortly before the deadline, the Government Equalities Office and the Equality and Human Rights Commission announced that enforcement of the reporting requirement would be suspended this year in recognition of the “unprecedented uncertainty and pressure” employers were facing.

Based on the data available, the difference in male and female median pay increased from 11.9% to 12.8%, despite the Office for National Statistics stating in October that the aggregated pay gap across the economy had decreased.

BITC urged companies that had not yet published their gender pay gap reports – including FTSE 100 firms – to do so, as it warned that the pressures brought on by pandemic risked damaging the progress that had been made in improving gender equality.

“Pay gap reporting is a vital tool in understanding and tackling gender inequality at work. If we don’t have a clear picture of women’s status at work entering the crisis, we won’t be able to take the right steps going forward,” said Charlotte Woodworth, gender equality campaign director at BITC.

“It is hugely disappointing to see so many opted out when the legal requirement was lifted – and a worrying sign of attitudes towards gender equality during the crisis.”

BITC said women are more likely to work in industries that had been greatly affected by the lockdown, such as hospitality, and were more likely than men to be taking on childcare responsibilities because of school closures.

A report by the Young Women’s Trust published earlier this week found that 78% of those who had lost their jobs since the crisis began were women and two-thirds were aged between 18 and 34.

According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, mothers in households with two opposite-gender parents were only doing a third of the uninterrupted paid work hours of fathers, compared with 60% of these uninterrupted hours before the pandemic.

Woodworth said employers that chose to prioritise equality and inclusion during the crisis would be “better placed to flourish in the future”.

“We know that more diverse, inclusive workplaces lead to better bottom lines. The choices companies make now will play a vital role in deciding whether we lock in the progress made in recent years, or see women’s standing at work unravel. This crisis could see women’s equality pushed back a generation.”

BITC recommended that employers:

  • ensure cost-cutting measures do not disproportionately impact women
  • promote policies related to caring responsibilities to male staff
  • embed remote working into the way jobs are designed.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Companies or subsidiaries that submitted data for 2017-18 but have not yet for 2018-19 include BT, British Airways, Glencore, Just Eat and Wm Morrison.

Latest HR job opportunities on Personnel Today

Browse more human resources jobs

Ashleigh Webber

Ashleigh is a former editor of OHW+ and former HR and wellbeing editor at Personnel Today. Ashleigh's areas of interest include employee health and wellbeing, equality and inclusion and skills development. She has hosted many webinars for Personnel Today, on topics including employee retention, financial wellbeing and menopause support.

previous post
From ‘forgotten’ to ‘key’ workers: protecting the precariously employed
next post
Chancellor set to announce tapering of furlough scheme

You may also like

Period pain and absence harm women’s pay and...

13 May 2025

Tackling suspect gender pay gap data

30 Apr 2025

What will reward look like in 2035?

28 Apr 2025

Link between reduced gender pay gap and revenue...

4 Apr 2025

Have group litigation claims advanced pay equality?

26 Mar 2025

Sullivan Review shows how ‘sex’ has been purged...

20 Mar 2025

Ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting: Lessons from...

18 Mar 2025

Equality at work: ‘Men are out of touch’

28 Feb 2025

Accenture scraps DEI goals globally

7 Feb 2025

Gender pay gap ‘won’t close until 2065’

22 Jan 2025

  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • The Majority of Employees Have Their Eyes on Their Next Move PROMOTED | A staggering 65%...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Self-Leadership: The Key to Successful Organisations PROMOTED | Eletive is helping businesses...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+