Organisations with more than 250 employees are preparing for their third round of gender pay gap reporting. They are joined this year by organisations with more than 150 employees, which will be reporting for the first time.
Not to be confused with equal pay for equal work, which has been a legal right since the 1970s, gender pay gap reporting looks at average pay across a number of dimensions in order to uncover hidden inequalities or imbalances in an organisation.
Employers are required to report the mean (average) and median hourly wage gap, the former reflecting the entire pay range in an organisation and the latter excluding the impact of unusually high earners; data on bonus pay; and the mean and median pay gaps for part-time employees and for employees on temporary contracts. They are also required to report the proportions of male and female employees in the lower, lower middle, upper middle and upper quartile pay bands.
The report is based on the 12-month period up to a “snapshot” date in the month of June, with results being published in December of the year in question.
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Progressive employers are using their gender pay gap data to identify areas for improvement, as well as to inform their recruitment and retention strategies in an exceptionally tight labour market.
Diageo Ireland is preparing for its third gender pay gap report, following progress last year.
“Our gender pay gap is moving in the right direction,” says Gerry Joanes, the company’s HR director. “Our mean bonus gap narrowed from -14.6 per cent to -4.6 per cent in 2023, while our mean hourly pay gap was +2.9 per cent, down from +3.7 the previous year.”
She attributes the exceptionally strong progress on bonus pay to a higher representation of women in roles with higher bonus and long term incentive plan (LTIP) potential, as well as business outcomes that had a positive impact on bonus schemes in the reporting year.
Diageo Ireland is a broad organisation. The company employs 972 people in the State across three separate legal entities – Diageo Ireland Unlimited Company, R&A Bailey & Co Unlimited Company, and Guinness Storehouse Limited.
Joanes explains that only Diageo Ireland Unlimited Company, which employs 617 people, is actually covered by the gender pay gap regulations; however, while reporting separately for Diageo Ireland, the organisation also provides combined data for its operations across Ireland.
The report is a yardstick for progress rather than a driving force, with gender pay and other equality and diversity goals already included in the organisation’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) targets, Joanes adds.
“It is part of our overall ESG agenda,” she says. “We want to be known as a good employer, one that that supports communities and the planet. Inclusiveness is very important in that. We have had 2030 ESG targets in place since 2020. For example, we want 50 per cent of leaders in Diageo globally to be female by 2030. We have already achieved that here in Ireland.
“Transparency is very important and the gender pay gap report holds you to account. Our gender pay gap numbers are as important to us as our profit and loss numbers. They measure our progress and help to point out areas that may need improvement.”
Paradoxically, being a good employer with a long heritage can actually present challenges when it comes to narrowing the gender pay gap. For example, manufacturing was traditionally a male domain and if employees stay with a company for the duration of their career it will naturally be the case that the most senior and therefore most highly paid people will be male.
“Diageo is a great company to work for and people like to stay for a long time,” says Joanes. “So we don’t get much change through attrition. Traditionally manufacturing was tough but we have put targets in place to make it more inclusive. You need to understand the different skills in the business, what’s changing and how we can be more inclusive.”
She cites the brewing process as an example. “That would have been quite physical in the past,” she says. “But does that need to have a gender label attached to it? People want to be treated equally now. Technology has played a role and there is a lot more automation and science there now. A lot of the traditional crafts are still there but they have evolved in ways that open up opportunities for both genders.”
Joanes believes the challenges can be overcome: “I’ve been with Diageo for 20 years and I’ve seen a lot of changes in the gender mix over that time. We’ve done it through planning our talent pipelines. The biggest challenge we have is getting enough women with Stem qualifications to come to work for us but we are starting to see that change. Our early-careers team is targeting universities and schools to show people what’s possible. A lot of people don’t know that the best chemists get to work with alcohol.”
Apprenticeships are also helping in other areas, she points out: “We have 50 per cent women on our Supply Chain and Procurement apprenticeship programme. It’s a four-year programme that offers great opportunities to gain experience, mentoring and career support. That boosts female talent availability.”
Hiring more women is just part of the equation – retaining them and supporting their career progress is also essential.
“We need to retain the right people for the future and encourage more female leaders,” says Joanes. “You still need the right person for the job but it’s about giving people opportunities to progress.”
Enlightened policies and benefits form a key part of the mix, she adds.
“We have a world-leading family leave policy,” says Joanes. “It’s 26 weeks’ paid leave regardless of gender or how you became a parent. And employees are eligible from it from day one. We are seeing more fathers take family leave and this allows others to step up to replace them and acquire new skills.
“Having more men taking family leave levels the playing field when it comes to caring opportunities. This could have been a policy on paper but we have a culture of senior leaders talking family leave. This is encouraging others to take it.”
Of course, there are lots of other meaningful moments in life, for which people require time and space, as Joanes points out.
“We have guidelines and time off for pregnancy loss,” she says. “This is rarely spoken about in businesses and we want to change that. Later in life there is menopause and perimenopause, and a lot of women can drop out of work at that point. We absolutely don’t want that to happen. We have the fabulous Spirited Women Employee Resource Group to support women at these moments.
“Sometimes the hardest topics to talk about are the ones that impact most. Organisations need to find ways to support people in those moments. These policies are brought to life by the people and culture in the organisation.”
Those policies and initiatives are bearing fruit, with women accounting for 42.7 per cent of employees in Diageo Ireland last year, compared to 39.9 per cent in 2022.
“Even small percentage gains like that help and indicate that we are moving in the right direction,” says Joanes. “We have made a brilliant start in Ireland. But we can never rest on our laurels. We have to keep moving forward.”
The Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 introduced the legislative framework for reporting in Ireland. Organisations with 150-plus employees are now required to report. Qualifying organisations must publish their gender pay gap data on their website. The report should detail their gender pay gap across various metrics by selecting a ‘snapshot’ date in the month of June. Organisations then have six months to prepare their calculations for their report.
Visit Gov.ie/genderpaygap for more information.