While Northern Ireland’s gender pay gap is narrower than the UK average – primarily due to the higher proportion of public sector employment - women here still earned 7.8% less than men across all sectors last year, according to the NI Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings Report.
Currently, legislation in Northern Ireland has not fully evolved to require employers to identify and address pay disparities between male and female employees within their organisations largely due to the dissolution of the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2017, which delayed legislative progress.
If implemented, new legislation here will place a statutory responsibility on employers to publish information relating to the pay of employees including full time, part time, job sharing, agency workers, self-employed people, seasonal, overseas, partners and those on leave.
To address this, a 12-week public consultation has been launched with the aim of implementing amendments by 2027.
Employers are being encouraged to review their current policies and practices to ensure they identify gaps within male and female pay and reply to the consultation before February 14.
Eliminating gender pay gaps not only ensures fair treatment across an organisation, it promotes increased confidence in businesses as well as enhancing reputation and attracting more highly skilled applicants.
The proposed regulations would also require employers to publish statistics on their employees in relation to ethnicity and disability and produce a detailed action plan with clear time-lines and measurable conclusions.
The current consultation only applies to employers with more than 250 employees, and given the size of Northern Ireland, the Department of Communities has indicated that only 345 employers fall within this scope.
- What ‘Right to Disconnect’ law means for staff and employersOpens in new window
- Should Stormont follow England and recommend a no-phone policy in our schools?Opens in new window
- What’s in a word? Must we ban workplace banter?Opens in new window
- Businesses must still follow local guidelines around return to officeOpens in new window
In Ireland, the obligation to publish gender pay gap information has been extended to businesses with 150 or more employees under the Employment Equality Act 1998 (Section 20A) (Gender Pay Gap Information) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 as opposed to businesses with 250 employees as originally set out in 2022 legislation and in my opinion this should be the case in Northern Ireland too.
Given the ongoing evolution of Irish legislation in this area, businesses in Northern Ireland should be encouraged to proactively review and adapt their policies to align with the proposed regulations.
Doing so not only positions organisations to comply with future requirements but emphasises the critical role of accountability and transparency in addressing pay disparities.
It sends a clear message: closing the gender pay gap is more than a legal obligation – it fosters a diverse workforce, enhances corporate reputation, and ensure fairness and equality in the workplace.
- Seamus McGranaghan is director at O’Reilly Stewart Solicitors
