The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) is set to publish the gender pay gaps of large Australian employers with 100 or more employees on 27 February 2024.
Where will the results be published?
WGEA will publish the gender pay gap results for the period of 1 April 2022 – 31 March 2023 on their website via their existing Data Explorer tool.
The gender pay gaps will be published by median as well as the gender composition and average remuneration per pay quartile. Employers that report to WGEA can find their information in their Executive Summary.
Can employers provide context to the results?
Employers will be given the opportunity to provide an ‘Employer Statement’. Providing an Employer Statement is not mandatory but does provide employers with the opportunity to showcase their strengths and contextualise their gender pay gap results.
Employers should already have possession of their gender pay gap results and can commence drafting their Employer Statement now. Once complete, the statement should be uploaded to the employer’s website with a shareable link. This link should then be uploaded on the WGEA Reporting Portal.
To ensure your Employer Statement is linked to the published results, WGEA recommend that employers provide their hyperlink by 20 February 2024.
What should I include in my Employer Statement?
While there are no required points, Employer Statements include anything that assists readers in understanding the business’s current position, gender equality strategy, and future actions and strategies. Employers may choose to address the following points:
Current position and organisational context
Summarise your gender pay gap data and explain how your results came to be. Employers can reference their organisation size, workforce composition, and current gender equality initiatives. They can also give context as to how their gender pay gap results compare to other relevant organisations and overall industry results.
Gender pay gap drivers
Employers can highlight what is shaping their gender pay gaps and consider whether external factors may have contributed to their results. Additionally, they can examine whether gender pay gap drivers differ at the different levels and roles within the organisation.
Employers may also wish to consider adding details pertaining to attraction and retention drivers – i.e. gender uptake of paid parental leave or flexible work arrangements. Employers can reference their corporate business plans and strategies here to assist readers in understanding why certain actions have been prioritised.
Future actions and strategies
It is important for employers to understand that data that emerges from each gender pay gap analysis will differ from organisation to organisation. Not all action plans will therefore include the same things. Some action plans may include undertaking an organisation wide salary and bonus audit to address gaps and anomalies. Others may prioritise the undertaking of a gender impact assessment of leadership and training or addressing gender composition of all entry level roles.
The most critical part of the Employer Statement is to ensure employers make a strong and explicit link between their gender pay gap results, their current position analysis, their drivers, and their future actions and strategies.
WGEA states that the purpose of the Employer Statement is to assist readers, “to make sense of your gender pay gap and […] the pathway to progression, it is not meant to be a document that outlines or promises perfection”.
Employers should consider that in addition to boards and governing bodies, current and future employees, shareholders, investors, customers and the media will be the audience of the Employer Statement.
If you have questions relating to WGEA reporting, please call the Workplace Relations Hotline on 1800 RETAIL (738 245) or head to https://www.wgea.gov.au/ for further resources.