Irish employers will have to publish gender pay gap


The Irish government has published draft legislation which will require employers to publish details of the gender pay gap in their organisations.


The planned law, which was published on 8 April is similar to the UK legislation on the gender pay gap, in that it also requires companies annually to publish details of the mean (average) and median (midpoint) gender pay gap; the mean and median bonus gender pay gap and the proportion of men and women in the organisation receiving a bonus payment. 


However, unlike the UK law, the proposed Irish legislation also requires employers to publish details of the differences in part-time pay, and the percentage of men and women receiving benefits in kind.


More significantly it sets the threshold for disclosure at 50 employees rather than the UK’s 250, once the legislation is fully operational — after three years. Initially, the cut-off point will be 250 employees. 


The legislation, which the unions have generally welcomed, is expected to be passed by the end of the year.