When it comes to the nation’s first employer-based public gender pay gap reporting, the only acceptable trend is a downward trend.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by tomorrow’s publication of gender pay gaps, then let Equal Workplaces help.
Tomorrow, the gender pay gaps of Australian employers with 100+ staff will be public for the first time.
It’s a big precedent but 27 February 2024 is not an end in itself. It sets the baseline for future trends amidst ongoing changes.
Once your gender pay gap is publicly available on the WGEA website at 12:01 tomorrow morning, there is only one acceptable trend - and that is down.
No employer can afford a higher pay gap in 2025. This is why we’ve taken a moment to break down the different data sets and highlight potential risks for the next 12 months.
Last week, we all heard that the ABS gender pay gap is at 12% - its lowest ever.
While this is one of the ways the nation measures its gender pay gap, tomorrow will be all about a different set of figures, calculated by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (otherwise known as WGEA).
It is important to note that you cannot compare tomorrow’s figures to the ABS figure because they are based on different data sets and methodologies.
The ABS figure always comes in lower than WGEA’s figure because it measures full time workers on their base salaries (i.e. it excludes part-time workers, many of whom would be women), while WGEA’s figure specifically examines the employers who are required to report to them (those with 100+ staff) and takes into account the full salary (including overtime and bonuses) of all workers (not just full time).
WGEA’s median gender pay gap is 19%.
Employer-based gender pay gaps will only be published by median this year because new CEO remuneration reporting is not being included until the next reporting year (i.e. 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025). Given that most Australian CEOs are male, this data is likely to have a significant impact on the mean gender pay gap, which is precisely why only the median is being reported tomorrow.
Yet, WGEA has traditionally looked at an average/mean pay gap, rather than a median. Its last “average” was reported at 21.7%.
We won’t know the average gender pay gaps of employers until 2025, when their mean and median figures include CEO remuneration for the first time.
This is definitely one to watch. Only time will tell how much that CEO remuneration skews gender pay gaps reporting, on an employer or national trend.
Regardless, employers will be keen to ensure that neither of their 2025 numbers are higher than the gender pay gaps released tomorrow.
This is why tomorrow’s precedent needs to be treated as the beginning - rather than the end. It is the baseline for a trend that can only go down.
If you’re an employer of 100+ employees, you need to take daily, practical and meaningful steps to constantly drive that gender pay gap down.
Your gender pay gap won’t be narrowed based on heartless number crunching - it requires leadership and accountability.
Equal Workplaces has been pleased to work with really committed people since its establishment last year. We roll up our sleeves to work in sync with employers who want to make a difference. The Equal Workplaces approach helps employers recognise the changes that are needed to make a difference.
If you’re worried that your gender pay gap is going to make it more difficult to attract, retain and promote talented women, then let Equal Workplaces help.