The recent news highlighting a continuing gender pay gap in Jersey is disappointing. Overall it remained static at 14% - that’s the same as in June 2022, and worst affected were the 60 – 64 year olds working in the financial and legal sectors. Here the report discovered a 74% difference. The older you get, it seems, the bigger the difference in pay between men and women doing equal jobs.
Jersey is still ahead of Guernsey where the States don’t currently collect any data that allows them to reliably report on the Bailiwick’s gender pay gap – although that’s due to change this year.
But while it’s good news the Jersey gap hasn’t widened – there’s still plenty of room for improvement and it prompted HR Now to look at how we currently monitor the gap – and what more we could do to improve things – starting with the basics:
What is the gender pay gap?
The ‘gender pay gap’ is the percentage difference between the average earnings of women and men across the workforce. Employees and workers from zero-hours to full-time and permanent have a right to equal pay for equal work – that’s work classed as the same, similar, equivalent or of equal value. Some jobs may be classed as equal work, even if the roles seem different i.e., a clerical job and a warehouse job might be classed as equal work.
How does Jersey compare with other countries in reporting Gender Pay?
UK & Ireland
- Employers with more than 250 employees report their organisations gender pay gap, annually. There is an option to explain reasons for the gap and actions being taken.
Jersey
- Currently no statutory gender pay gap reporting requirement or equal pay regime. Government report on themselves and whilst the stats were looking positive the percentage gap has increased again.
- The Discrimination (Jersey) Law 2013 provides protection against pay discrimination.
- In April 2022 the Gender Pay Gap Scrutiny Panel recommended
- Statutory gender pay gap reporting.
- A consultation on the appropriate number of employees threshold.
Guernsey
- No statutory gender pay gap reporting requirement or equal pay regime.
- Sex Discrimination (Employment) (Guernsey) Ordinance 2005 provided protection against discrimination in pay.
- The planned overhaul in discrimination includes a modernisation of the sex discrimination law including the right to equal pay for work of equal value.
While Jersey doesn’t currently have statutory gender pay gap reporting requirements – or an equal pay regime, the Discrimination (Jersey) Law 2013 did bring in protection against discrimination in pay based on the protected characteristics of sex, age, race and disability. And if an employee succeeds in taking a discrimination claim to an Employment Tribunal and the complaint is seen to be well founded, the employer may be required to pay the employee up to £10,000 compensation for financial loss and up to £5,000 for hurt and distress.
An employee may claim that the discrimination they have suffered has been direct or indirect:
Direct discrimination
- By law, employers must not pay an employee less, or give them terms and conditions that put them at a disadvantage, because of their sex, age, race and disability or any other protected characteristic.
Indirect discrimination
- If a working practice, policy, or rule applies to everyone but puts one person or group at a disadvantage because of their sex, this could be considered as indirect discrimination. Unless an employer can justify it.
- Part-time employees are entitled to equal pay. If a part-time employee is paid less than someone of the opposite sex it could be indirect discrimination.
It’s important to stress that there may be some circumstances in which differences in pay (and other terms and conditions) may be allowed. These include:
- If someone is better qualified, if their skills are crucial to doing the job and hard to recruit.
- If one employee lives in the UK and the other is in Jersey where there’s a higher cost of living.
- Night-only work.
Most organisations, including the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, agree gender pay reporting is a good thing and should be enacted in Jersey as a priority. As well as allowing better understanding of the size and cause of pay gaps it would also help identify issues which need to be addressed to tackle inequality.
But HR Now would go one step further. We believe the Government should consider other factors – outside of an employer’s control - as part of any efforts to reduce the pay gap. For example:
- The lack of affordable childcare that ultimately drives the family to decide who will take most of the childcare responsibility and this is statistically skewed towards women.
- Mothers are statistically more likely to want to spend more time with their children than the father.
- Skills training and opportunities to gain experience within the family constraints and work life balance.
Knowledge is power and by taking time to discover the full picture, staff may find gaps aren’t always an employer’s decision to be unfair. The way forward is a holistic approach of both employee and employer support.
Five top tips for addressing the gender pay gap:
- Gender pay gap reporting is inevitably coming to Jersey so get prepared and review your current situation.
- Identify what factors are contributing to the difference in pay between men and women in your organisation.
- Don’t wait for it to become a statutory requirement - consider implementing measures to reduce the gap now.
- Sing about what you’re doing to reduce the pay gap in your business. Being seen as a fair employer will put you at the top of the list of attractive employers to work for.
- Get in touch with us today: Email us: hello@hrnow.je or call: 01534 747559 for support so we can calculate your organisation’s gender pay gap and help to create a phased plan to tackle inequality.