But almost a quarter (23pc) of firms surveyed by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) say there has been “no progress or change” on diversity since new pay gap legislation came into force in 2021.
“Companies have done things like improve their maternity benefit,” said CIPD director Mary Connaughton. “We heard examples of recognising a period that a person has been on maternity leave for bonus. They are doing things like putting pension contributions in place for women on maternity leave.”
Of those companies that made changes, just over a fifth (21pc) said the new rules had affected their reward and recognition practices, with more than a third (36pc) saying their job ads and recruitment practices have changed.
Ms Connaughton said there was more happening that was not related to pay, with 41pc of firms saying the new rules have increased the focus on “an inclusive culture” in work.
“It can include more training for managers in advance of interviewing. We have also noticed that when people looked at the data around the gender pay gap, it made them realise where men and women were sitting in the organisation.
“It made companies look at, ‘Why are we always ending up with men in those type of roles?’ Sometimes it was throwing up where in the organisation you could get part-time working: if it was just at junior level and not at senior level, that could rule out women from getting more senior roles.”
The CIPD survey found that retaining employees – rather than new legislation – is the biggest driver of pay policy this year.
A large majority of employers (83pc) have increased basic pay rates in the last year, while 40pc are planning a hike in the next 12 months.
The survey found an average pay increase of 5.06pc over the last year, less than inflation. Fewer non-unionised firms gave pay increases but when they did, it was higher than average, CIPD found.
Middle-sized firms – those with between 50 and 249 employees – made a larger base pay increase (6.15pc) than either larger or smaller companies.
Almost three-quarters (72pc) say they are maintaining or increasing non-pay benefits, including paid sick leave, pension contributions and maternity top-ups.
The largest firms here paid women between 12.3pc and 12.6pc less than men on average last year, analysis by the Irish Independent and consultants PwC shows.
When it comes to bonus payments, the gap was almost twice as large, in favour of men.
Companies with more than 250 staff – which covers close to 700 Irish-based firms – will have to report again in December this year, based on a “snapshot” of their payroll on a chosen day in June.
Ireland’s official gender pay gap is among the lowest in the EU, recent Eurostat data shows.
Women made, on average, 9.9pc less than men per hour here in 2020, compared with an EU average of 12.7pc (in 2021). That was down from 11.3pc. in 2018 and10.8pc in 2019.
A gender pay gap is not an indication of pay discrimination, which is illegal.
It measures the average difference between men’s and women’s average pay across an entire organisation.
