Last month a report from auditors PwC concluded that closing the gender pay gap – the difference in average pay between men and women – could boost Jersey’s economy by £212 million. In addition, it found that encouraging more women into work and raising the Island’s female employment rate by 8% to match that of Sweden could boost GDP by 6% – the equivalent of £239 million.
PwC also called on the States to consider introducing mandatory pay-gap reporting for companies with more than 50 employees to kickstart improvements.
Economic Development Minister Lyndon Farnham said the research presented a ‘compelling case’ and work was under way on a solution that could allow the gender pay gap to be regularly monitored and reported without placing the burden on employers.
In the UK, businesses with more than 250 employees are required to regularly report their gender pay gap, in a move which aims to encourage improvements and best practice. There have been calls for that threshold to be reduced to 50 employees.
Answering a written States question from Deputy Jess Perchard, who wanted to know if he would make closing the gap a priority and commit to introducing mandatory pay-gap reporting by all employers, Senator Farnham said: ‘Over the past few months Statistics Jersey have been exploring reporting on gender pay in our economy, as part of improvements in how they collect earnings information and produce official earnings statistics. This work has been discussed with the Deputy, but it is challenging and complex work, as it involves moving from official earnings statistics based on survey returns from employers, to using instead administrative sources such as income tax or social security returns.
‘I believe this, however, is the best approach, as it reduces administrative burdens on employers, and seems far preferable to imposing new statutory requirements. At the same time, reporting and explaining is good practice, and I understand the States’ Employment Board and the Treasury and Resources Minister in terms of the annual accounts, are both considering this.’
He added: ‘The recent report by PwC presents a compelling case that there may be significant economic and productivity gains by improved gender equality. I believe that a commitment should be made, by the States Assembly and the Island’s government, to place this on the agenda with other strategic priorities.
‘I will continue to work with colleagues in this area and urge other States Members, who may wish to gain a fuller understanding of the issue, to engage with Deputies Perchard and [Louise] Doublet in the first instance.’
