Eversheds comment on British women working for free

Shirley Hall, commenting on new research that shows British women are effectively working for free from now until the end of the year.

Commenting on new research that shows British women are effectively working for free from now until the end of the year because of the lingering pay gap between what they and male colleagues earn, Shirley Hall, partner at law firm Eversheds, says:

"Companies that do not engage with the new pay reporting duty run a serious risk of adverse publicity. They are likely to be easy to identify and unions, campaigners and the media are expected to name and shame those who try to keep their gender pay record under wraps, particularly in the case of well-known brands and those competing for work in the public sector. But the risk of reputational damage will not be confined to those who ignore the new law. High-profile employers can expect their published gender pay data to come in for close scrutiny and so need to be thinking now about how they will present that information. Raw data can give a misleading impression so some employers will want to publish a more sophisticated analysis of their pay than is strictly required as well as an explanation of the context giving rise to any perceived pay gap. This will, however, mean more work for employers, which is already causing some consternation: Eversheds recently questioned nearly 400 HR professionals to gauge their thoughts on the new policy and nearly half (48%) said they are concerned about the administrative burden of mandatory gender pay gap reporting."

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