Closing the Gender Pay Gap in Ireland

Mark Fryer

Gender Pay Reporting is back on the agenda in Ireland, where the Irish Government plans to pass the delayed Gender Pay Gap Information Bill later this year. Under the proposed legislation, any company employing more than 250 people will have to publish their data. Gender Pay Reporting was introduced in the UK in 2018 and the European Union has also recently issued a directive on pay equity and pay transparency, where it’s political priority of EU President Ursula von der Leyen.

A recent report in The Irish Times suggests “The reasons behind the gender pay gap are many and complex. Whilst it’s apparent that lack of career progression for women is central to this issue, unconscious bias based on cultural attitudes about the roles of men and women in society can also impact corporate pay programmes”. Reporting may discomfort some employers although most companies in Ireland are expected to welcome the planned legislation, showing a willingness to tackle gender imbalances.

The article says “Gender pay disparity is not a cause, but a symptom, of an underlying problem: the unequal career progression of men and women. Consequently, a plan that merely states intent to reduce the gender pay gap is not going to provide a meaningful solution”. Applied positively, greater transparency will encourage organisations to take positive action to remove any barriers for progression.

One step organisations can take is to provide better, more focused career management development support. Companies who want to take positive, practical action to support more women into leadership positions have learned, with ABSTRACT, that the individual needs to be given the responsibility, the empowerment and the tools to manage their career. We have proven that equipping individuals in more junior roles through to senior manager levels is critical to sustainable change.

This is where our AMBITION and ACCELERATE Programmes can help. Our ACCELERATE Programme was the winner of the Diversity Initiative of The Year at the 2019 Women in Finance Awards in Dublin, when they were last held just a few months before the pandemic.

Another way we can help is through our Cultural Competence and Character Programme, aimed at leaders and managers to seriously improve their diversity of thought and respect within a business context.

We believe this new legislation will drive even more focused actions by Irish Companies. We also believe that ABSTRACT can make a genuine difference in supporting positive change in Ireland. We would love to discuss how we can help you and your team so get in touch to find out how.

To find out more

Details of our programmes are here: https://www.abstractuk.co.uk/our-programmes

Irish Times Article - https://www.irishtimes.com/business/financial-services/gender-pay-disparities-set-to-become-a-controversial-topic-in-ireland-1.4571502

European Commission - Pay Transparency: Commission proposes measures to ensure equal pay for equal work https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_881

ABSTRACT – Spotlight on Ireland https://www.abstractuk.co.uk/spotlight-on-ireland

You can get in contact with us via our website at https://www.abstractuk.co.uk/contact or simply contact any member of our ABSTRACT team.

You can also follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/abstract-uk or Twitter here @Abstract_UKTeam

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