The Gender Pay Gap has become an increasingly important measure of workplace equality in Ireland, with employers now facing greater transparency and reporting obligations.

But what does the Gender Pay Gap actually tell us, and does a gap necessarily mean that an employer is paying women less than men for the same work?

What Is the Gender Pay Gap?

The Gender Pay Gap measures the difference between the average hourly earnings of men and women across an organisation, expressed as a percentage of men's earnings.

It is important to distinguish this from equal pay.

Under Irish employment equality legislation, men and women are entitled to equal remuneration for like work, including work of equal value.

However, a Gender Pay Gap can exist even where an employer complies fully with equal pay legislation.

For example, an organisation may employ a higher proportion of men in senior management positions and a higher proportion of women in lower-paid administrative roles. Even where everyone is paid fairly for their individual role, this distribution can produce a Gender Pay Gap.

The figures therefore provide an indication of how earnings and employment opportunities are distributed across an organisation.

How Is the Gender Pay Gap Calculated?

Employers are required to calculate several measures, including the mean and median Gender Pay Gap.

Mean Gender Pay Gap

The mean compares the average hourly earnings of male employees with those of female employees.

For example:

  • Average male hourly earnings: €30

  • Average female hourly earnings: €25

  • Mean Gender Pay Gap: 16.7%

This indicates that women's average hourly earnings are 16.7% lower than men's.

Median Gender Pay Gap

The median compares the hourly earnings of the middle-ranking male employee with those of the middle-ranking female employee when each group is arranged in order of earnings.

Unlike the mean, the median is less influenced by a small number of particularly high earners.

Examining both measures provides a more complete picture of pay differences within an organisation.

What Causes a Gender Pay Gap?

A Gender Pay Gap can arise from several factors, including:

  • Senior leadership representation: More men or women occupying higher-paid management or executive positions.

  • Career progression: Differences in promotion rates and access to senior opportunities.

  • Working arrangements: A greater proportion of men or women working in lower-paid part-time roles.

  • Occupational segregation: Men and women being concentrated in different types of roles.

  • Bonus payments: Differences in eligibility for, or the distribution of, bonuses and other remuneration.

Importantly, identifying a Gender Pay Gap does not automatically establish discrimination.

However, the figures may highlight areas where an employer should examine recruitment, progression, remuneration and workforce practices more closely.

What Must Irish Employers Report?

Under the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021, as amended, employers with 50 or more employees are subject to statutory reporting requirements.

Reporting extends beyond a single percentage and includes:

  • Mean and median hourly remuneration gaps.

  • Mean and median bonus remuneration gaps.

  • The proportion of male and female employees receiving bonuses.

  • The proportion receiving benefits in kind.

  • Pay differences among part-time and temporary-contract employees.

  • The distribution of male and female employees across four remuneration quartiles.

Employers must also provide a written statement explaining the reasons for any identified pay gaps and the measures being taken or proposed to address them.

These requirements are designed to provide greater transparency around workforce composition, pay distribution and progression opportunities.

Understanding Pay Quartiles

One particularly useful element of Gender Pay Gap reporting is the examination of pay quartiles.

Employees are ranked according to hourly remuneration and divided into four equally sized groups, from the lowest-paid to the highest-paid.

Employers then report the proportion of men and women within each quartile.

For example, an organisation may have a workforce consisting of 60% women but find that only 25% of employees in its highest-paid quartile are female.

This may help explain why a Gender Pay Gap exists, even where the organisation applies consistent salary scales.

The WorkWise Perspective

A Gender Pay Gap does not necessarily mean that an employer is breaching employment equality legislation. Equally, a small or nonexistent gap does not guarantee that individual equal pay issues do not exist.

Employers should therefore view Gender Pay Gap reporting as one element of their wider employment equality and HR compliance framework.

At WorkWise HR Solutions, we support employers in reviewing their HR policies, employment practices and workplace compliance obligations.