Gender pay gap reporting: How far have we come?

Smaller employers completing gender pay gap reports for the first time in 2025 have a wealth of information to draw on but much work ahead, write Aoife Newton and Andrew Egan

A lot can be learned from the first three years of gender pay gap reporting in Ireland, which means those employers new to this reporting in 2025 have a wealth of valuable data to learn from. 

Many large employers are already producing in-depth and illustrative annual gender pay gap reports. Although primarily focused on statutory reporting requirements, they also reflect best practice approaches to tackling gender pay gaps and outline clear, insightful ways to explain these gaps. 

For employers preparing to report for the first time, these reports are worth reading, if only to give you a sense of the approach others have already taken.

As much as you can learn from this, however, you should not underestimate the volume of HR, payroll and other data required for gender pay gap reporting, the complexity involved in merging this data, the calculations required and the scrutiny you can expect to face when communicating your findings to stakeholders internally and externally. 

Gender pay gap results published in 2025 will be based on data collected over 12 months, typically from July 2024 to June 2025, though the exact dates will depend on each employer’s chosen snapshot date. 

This means employers not already focusing on gender representation across their organisation may find themselves having to explain sizable gender pay gaps.

With Irish employers employing as little as 50 people in scope for reporting next year, we expect to see a lot more focus on this area from the media, employees and other stakeholders. 

Smaller employers are subject to the same legislative requirements as their larger counterparts; there are no exemptions for employers with limited resources.

This means they will be required to produce a report reflecting accurate results aligned with 11 statistical gender pay gap metrics along with a narrative detailing the reasons for existing gaps and measures (both existing and planned) to reduce or eliminate these gaps. 

New 2024 regulations – new results?

The Employment Equality Act 1998 (section 20A) (Gender Pay Gap Information) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 were introduced last May and it will be interesting to see what impact they have on this year’s gender pay gap reporting results.

Under the 2024 Regulations, social welfare payments relating to certain periods of protective leave can now be included in gender pay gap calculations. This is a welcome development as it may help reflect parity of payment in line with notional hours worked. 

Prior to this, the regulations have only included ‘top-up’ payment made by employers as relevant pay for gender pay calculations, providing that social welfare payments should be excluded (notwithstanding that full hours have been included). 

The impact of this approach has been to reflect a lower hourly rate of pay for employees in receipt of certain welfare payments. 

For 2024 reporting and beyond, employers will need to include both maternity leave benefit along with a maternity ‘top-up’ payment (i.e. 100% pay) matched with 100 percent hours. 

This should reflect a notional increase in pay for women, thus helping to ‘reduce’ an employer’s gender pay gap compared to last year’s reporting.

The 2024 Regulations also adjust the treatment of share options and interests in shares. These are now considered benefit-in-kind rather than forming part of bonus payments.
 
This could have a significant impact on the gender pay results of in-scope employers as benefit-in-kind is not included in either overall gender pay calculations or separate bonus calculations. Previously, share options and interests in shares were included in both.  

The issue of actual shares (to be valued on the date of issue) continue to be part of the bonus calculation.

So far in 2024, we are seeing steady results in completed reports compared to reports in the two years prior. 

Typically, any significant variations in results can be explained by reference to changes in personnel at a senior level or due to business restructures. Both will continue to impact annual reporting. 

Comparison is key

An important aspect of reporting for many employers is how favourably, or otherwise, they compare with their peers operating in the same sector or industry.

For example, if an employer operates in a sector that is traditionally male dominated (e.g. engineering), this will clearly influence their gender pay gap results. 

In certain sectors, such as professional services, where employers are recruiting in the same talent pool as their competitors, how their organisation compares to their peers really matters. 

Ideally, employers will want to see results that are either “similar to” or “more favourable than” their competitors. 

If their results are not, boards and management should query why they are out of line with competitors with a similar resourcing structure recruiting from the same talent pool.

In particular, it is worth examining whether there are discriminatory practices behind any results revealing a wide gender pay gap as this could be affecting female representation at the higher levels of the organisation – or perhaps the organisation’s pay and bonus structure is weighted in favour of men? 

Ultimately, gender pay gap results serve to root out any embedded issues that may be impeding more equitable pay across the board.

New developments in 2025

The biggest change in 2025 will be the extension of the gender pay gap reporting obligation to employers with just 50 employees. In addition to this development, we expect to see some changes to how the gender pay gap reporting process is carried out. 

As it stands, employers must include their gender pay gap data and statement of information on their website – or have it available for public inspection. 

We understand the Government has issued a tender for the development of an online gender pay gap portal, with development due to start in the coming weeks and testing earmarked for the new year. 

It is expected that the portal will have similar functionality to an online gender pay gap portal already in operation in the UK. 

If this is the case, the portal will allow employers and other interested parties to compare and contrast results with ease, rather than having to rely on the current, more laborious, manual process. 

This new system of reporting is also expected to result in the reporting deadline being brought forward to the end of November 2025. 

Employers – both those already reporting and new to the regime – will therefore have a five-month window in which to report, slightly shorter than the current six-month timeframe. 

All employers in scope for reporting next year must thus be vigilant and ensure they are up to date at all times with the portal requirements and potential new deadline. 

The EU Pay Transparency Directive

Looking further ahead, as the EU Pay Transparency Directive (the Directive) is due to be transposed by June 2026, we expect to see many more changes to the reporting regime in the coming years. 

The implementation of the new rules under the Directive will not only change the amount of data required but will also align gender pay gap reporting more closely with the employee engagement agenda.  

Further, gender pay gap reporting under this Directive will not simply be about producing an annual report of results and narrative; it could also open up data results to scrutiny from trade unions and other employee representatives. 

Where there are gaps of more than five percent in any category of worker (these categories are yet to be defined), which cannot be objectively justified and cannot be rectified within a six-month period, the employer may have to engage in a joint pay assessment. 

Such joint pay assessments are expected to involve trade unions or other employee representatives. 

Employers and all relevant stakeholders should, therefore, be more concerned about how the Directive will shine a light on their organisation’s gender pay gaps, bringing current reporting closer to the principle of equal pay and overall pay transparency.  

Acknowledge the gaps

Given the additional layer of data scrutiny under the EU Pay Transparency Directive, we are encouraging all employers with gender pay gaps in favour of male employees to commit to deeper analysis. 

By better understanding the causes of such gaps at every level of their business, they will find these discrepancies easier to explain (based on objective criteria), and also potentially easier to rectify. 

And while not all gaps may be fixable in the short-term, a deep analysis can give employers a good starting point to devise a longer-term solution, as well as greater scope to explain these gaps to legislators with reference to objective criteria.

Ultimately, employers who are not focused on gender parity, closing gaps or preparing for the impending new regime, may be exposed to time-consuming and potentially contentious joint pay assessments.