Ireland's largest business group wants all employers to publish their gender pay gaps
Ibec supports a similar reporting model already in place in Australia.
IBEC HAS LODGED a submission with the Department of Justice in advance of tomorrow’s budget calling for a “comprehensive” approach to gender pay reporting.
The group representing Irish employers said it “supports the objective of addressing barriers to the socio-economic equality of genders in Ireland”.
The issue of a gender pay gap has been a hot topic issue in recent times with the revelation that significant gaps exist in pay levels between genders at state broadcaster RTÉ, among other examples.
Ibec’s submission, which can be read in full here, has proposed using a reporting tool similar to the Australian model of gender pay reporting.
This would involve companies with more than 250 employees reporting gender pay gap data, however, Ibec would also like to bring smaller employers into the fold at a later date.
It added that “significant interventions” are required in Ireland’s education system and teacher training is needed to address issues like gender stereotyping and role-modelling.
“Societal focus on the role of gender stereotypes and norms which influence the roles women and men hold in our country needs to occur if we are to further challenge the work and non-work opportunities available to all,” the submission stated.
The submission also focused on the issue of affordable childcare as being “essential” to the rectification of gender pay imbalances.
“We believe that gender pay gap reporting, if conducted using an appropriate method that takes into account the size and scale of a business, has the potential to offer a real diagnostic tool to highlight the issue,” said Ibec chief executive Danny McCoy.
“In addition to gender pay gap reporting, we believe that a whole-of-society approach to the issue of gender pay and gender balance is needed.
“Reporting alone will not identify or solve the myriad of structural, cultural and policy causes for the differences in participation rates and the employment gaps between genders.”
Written by Cianan Brennan and posted on TheJournal.ie
