The government of the United Kingdom in December 2016 published a revised version of the gender pay gap regulations that come into force in April, 2017.

These regulations require private sector employers within the U.K. with at least 250 employees to publish certain information about the differences in pay between men and women.

It is anticipated that 34 percent of the total U.K. workforce (7,960 employers and around 11 million employees) will be affected.

“Pay” is broadly defined as basic pay, annual leave, maternity pay, sick pay, shift premium pay and most allowances. It does not include overtime, redundancy pay, or benefits in kind and payments as part of termination of employment.

The data that will be collected includes the following:

• The difference between the mean and the median hourly rate of pay for men and women.
• The difference between the mean and median bonus payments paid to men and women over the period of 12 months along with the “snapshot” date of April 5.
• The number of men and women who were paid bonuses.
• The number of men and women in each quartile of the pay distribution.

The new regulations also stipulate that the data must be published on the employer’s website for at least three years from the date of publication as well as on a government website.

The information must be signed off by a statutory director or equivalent. It is recommended that employers start ensuring they have the systems in place to gather relevant information so they will be in compliance of the new reporting requirements.