By Graham Irons
Partner
Howes Percival LLP
THIS year is set to be an important year in employment law, with high-profile cases and significant new legislation likely to have a major impact on employers.
The gig economy and the status of workers will remain a key topic with high profile cases in the courts and the Government is expected to respond to the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices. Meanwhile, employers need to get to grips with two key legislative changes in the shape of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Gender Pay Gap Reporting.
Gender Pay Gap Reporting
Employers with 250 or more employees will have to produce and publish their gender pay gap reports by 4 April (30 March for public sector employers) if they have not done so already. Employers are required to publish information on the percentage differences between the mean and median hourly rate of pay between men and women across their workforce, the proportions of men and women who receive bonuses and the relative proportions of men and women in each quartile pay band, based on a ‘snapshot date’ of 5 April 2017 (31 March for public sector). As we’ve seen already, companies could potentially face media scrutiny if large pay gaps are exposed so employers should consider whether to publish any narrative to explain any gap or to show what action will be taken to address it.
GDPR
This new data protection law, which comes into force on 25 May 2018, will provide increased rights for individuals and places a duty of accountability on employers in relation to individual’s personal data. The magnitude of the changes coupled with stiff penalties for non-compliance (up to ?20 million or four per cent of global turnover) means that it’s vital that employers ensure they have systems in place to make sure they are compliant. To prepare, employers should establish a compliance timeline, carry out a data audit, determine the basis upon which data will be processed, update key policies and processes and make sure everything they do is documented.
We have been working with organisations to help prepare them for both GDPR and Gender Pay Gap reporting and if you need any assistance please contact Graham Irons at
