Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to ensure that the Equality and Human Rights Commission assesses the accuracy of the gender pay gap figures filed by employers for the 2018-19 reporting year.

It is an employer’s legal responsibility to ensure that they report on time and that their figures are accurate. The vast majority of the over 10,000 organisations that reported this year have reported their data on time.

In 2018, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) undertook an investigation into 100 employers suspected of publishing inaccurate gender pay gap figures for the 2017/18 reporting year. The EHRC now intends to carry out the same action on employers’ suspected of publishing inaccurate data for the 2018/19 reporting year and will take enforcement action where appropriate.