Gender pay gap reporting in Ireland and four ways to effect change

Until quite recently, Irish employers were under no legal obligation to report employee pay gaps according to gender. That all changed dramatically after the passage of the Gender Pay Gap Information Act which went into effect in May of 2022. This legislation currently only applies to companies that employ at least 250 people, but this threshold will decrease to just 50 people by 2025.

In short, the Gender Pay Gap Information Act requires employers to publish public records of their gender pay gap rates. Of course, this reported information can have a profound effect on profitability and general company health in areas that range from recruitment outreach to public perception and opinion.

As reported in The Irish Examiner, the average national gender pay gap in Ireland is roughly 14 percent. This provides companies in Ireland with an established benchmark for success or failure in this critical human resources statistic. Companies that have a better than average gap - or none at all! - can use that to attract the best candidates. Those with a wider gap have work to do.

Key elements influencing the gender pay gap 

Irish gender pay gap reporting recently emerged as an important topic of discussion for us at Savvi Recruitment. In our in-depth analysis, we identified four fundamental elements that are exerting a profound influence over the gender pay gap in Ireland. By meeting challenges and leveraging opportunities in these areas, senior executives can escape the pitfalls of the gender pay gap while reaping the benefits of closing it.

Senior roles

In the words of our co-founder Therese Cadell, the pay gap is largely due to “workplace hierarchies and structural imbalances within companies”. In other words, payment of men and women who share the same job titles at a given company can often be quite similar. But a significant lack of women in senior positions can still create a staggering company gender pay gap. “So maybe the base pay gap is caused by having more men in senior roles and more women in lower grades,” says Therese. “The bonus pay gap is because there are more men in senior level positions, and these levels have higher performance bonuses and commission as well as equity allocation.”

Mentorship

Our research suggests that mentorship is an essential component of the gender pay gap issue. Recognising the many obstacles that stand between women and the senior administrative positions that they deserve, they see a tremendous need for targeted mentorship and guidance. In light of this need, Lisa Scollan praises the mentorship efforts of the insurance company Irish Life. “They have a number of mentorship programs in place for women that they can take part in,“ she says, “and it's encouraging women to be promoted within the company up into more senior roles as well.”

Maternity policies

Beyond mentorship, Irish Life serves as an aspirational example in terms of their employee-friendly maternity policies. As Lisa points out, Irish Life has introduced pregnancy-related benefits that include incentive and paid time off for employees going through medical procedures such as IVF treatment. The potential of these kinds of initiatives to decrease the gender pay gap are obvious and can be widely applied.

Diversity initiatives

To get women into more board and leadership-level positions, both government and industry programs are supremely important. Therefore, Lisa Scollan sees tremendous potential in initiatives such as Ireland’s Women in Finance Charter. Led by four large industry partners and supported by the Irish government, this charter asks Irish signatory firms and representative bodies to commit to “greater gender balance and inclusivity at all levels across the financial services sector.” It's not a requirement for companies to sign up, but it’s a way of showing their commitment to increasing gender diversity within the financial services industry,” says Lisa. “With them making their public declaration to make their businesses more gender-balanced and that they're committing to setting targets and timelines around that.” Looking at things from the opposite perspective, our Recruitment Director John Ennis regards diversity initiatives as a tremendous potential advantage for businesses. As candidates seek balanced workplaces, he notes “The positive aspects you'd certainly be including diversity and equality and gender balance as one of your selling points… so certainly, from a recruitment perspective, it puts you in a good position to attract new talent.”

Our analysis shows that closing the gender pay gap makes good sense in the current business environment and that wise businesses are already addressing issues of gender equality in the workplace. “I think the takeaway from this is that companies are not ignoring it, companies are embracing it,” says Therese. “They need to ensure they are working towards parity in the gender pay gap.”

If you have questions about the gender pay gap or any other topic related to recruitment, contact Savvi Recruitment Consultants today by phone or by email.