Employers not convinced pay ratio reporting will cut inequality – XpertHR

Only a third of employers believe that the introduction of pay ratio reporting will reduce wage inequality between senior executives and other employees, according to XpertHR. Just 13% of the respondents in the survey-based research say that they currently publish the ratio of their CEO’s pay to the average salary of the UK workforce, which will be a requirement for all listed companies by June 2018.

There is broad support for the new requirement amongst 61% of employers, but only 39% want to see it extended beyond listed companies. Concerns amongst those employers opposed to the proposal centre on the:

• extra burden they argue it places on business
• value of the data
• ability to keep individual salary information anonymous
• relevance of figures that fail to take different roles into account.

XpertHR's Managing Editor for Pay and HR practice, Sheila Attwood,, said:

'While many employers are in favour of increased transparency around pay levels, there is no widespread support for requiring all companies to publish pay ratios. While some feel the measure is too simplistic, others are concerned that the narrative will be used to justify the figures, rather than lead to action.'