Statutory guidance

Closing your gender pay gap

Updated 9 January 2024

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

If you find that your organisation has a gender pay gap, you should first try to understand why. If you know the factors that are causing your gap, you can take the most effective actions to close it.

The page has guidance about:

• how to understand your gender pay gap
• actions you can take to close the gap
• creating an action plan

1. How to understand your gender pay gap

The gender pay gap data you report can give you a basic understanding of your organisation’s gender pay balance.

The aim of this section is to help you understand 8 possible causes of your organisation’s pay gap. You will need some more data to identify certain issues.

This guidance often refers to actions to support women. This is because men are paid more than women in most organisations. You can also use the suggested actions to support men if women’s pay is higher.

1.1 Pay levels

Use ‘pay quarters’ to see the percentage of women and men at different pay levels in your organisation. 

Pay quarters are 4 equally-sized groups, ranked from highest to lowest hourly pay. You create them when you make your gender pay gap calculations.

Examine the gender imbalance in your organisation using your own seniority structure. Also look at any gender imbalance in job types and departments.

Example: gender imbalance by the percentage of women in each quarter

Hourly pay quarter	Women	Men
Upper	34%	66%
Upper middle	45%	55%
Lower middle	55%	45%
Lower	50%	50%

1.2 Promotions

If there is a good gender balance in your organisation, the same percentage of men and women in a particular grade should apply for promotion from that grade.

For example, you might have 60% women and 40% men in a particular grade. In that case, the pool of candidates who apply for promotion from that grade should also be 60% women and 40% men.

If only 20% of applicants were women, the gender imbalance would be more likely to get worse at the higher grade. This would mean fewer women in senior roles and a bigger gender pay gap.

To work out if this is a problem, look at the percentage of women in each grade or role who:

• apply for promotion

• make it through to any assessment stage or shortlist

• are selected for promotion

Example: gender imbalance in the promotion process, by stage

Promotion stage	Women	Men
Applicant pool	50%	50%
Applicants	40%	60%
Assessment	30%	70%
Selected	25%	75%

1.3 Recruitment into lower-paid roles

Your gender pay gap may be wider if women:

• join your organisation at more junior levels
• are less likely to be hired at higher levels

To work out if this is a problem, look at the number and percentage of women who apply for roles with you. See if there are gender imbalances at different grades or levels.

For each grade or level, work out if the percentage of women goes down during:

• the application stage
• shortlisting and assessment
• selection for a role
• accepting a role

Example: gender imbalance by recruitment process, by seniority

Level of seniority	Women hired	Men hired
Upper	34%	66%
Upper middle	45%	55%
Lower middle	55%	45%
Lower	50%	50%

1.4 People leaving your organisation

If women leave your organisation at a faster rate than men, this could contribute to your gender pay gap. The effect will be greater if this happens in more highly-paid positions and grades.

To work out if this is a problem, look at the percentage of women and men leaving your organisation each year. For each grade, work out the percentage of women leaving out of all women in that grade.

For example, you might find that 20% of the women in a particular grade left over the last year. In the same period, only 10% of men in that grade left.

Example: gender imbalance by employee exit rates, and seniority level

Level of seniority	Women leaving	Men leaving
Upper (highest paid)	43%	25%
Upper middle	25%	25%
Lower middle	12%	20%
Lower (lowest paid)	10%	12%

1.5 Bonuses, overtime and other pay

Under the Equality Act 2010, you must make sure you give equal compensation for equal work.

Analysing information about pay and bonuses can help you work out if certain types of pay are affecting your gender pay gap.

You work out the percentage of men and women receiving bonuses as part of your gender pay gap calculations.

Look at whether men and women doing comparable work get the same:

• overtime
• bonuses
• pay for unsociable hours

Another aspect of pay that can contribute to your gender pay gap is women having lower starting salaries than men doing similar jobs. This may be a problem if you allow negotiation of starting salaries.

Research has found that:

• women are less likely to negotiate their pay than men
• when women do negotiate, they can be judged more harshly than men for doing so

To check whether this is a problem, compare starting salaries for men and women in comparable roles.

1.6 Performance scores

Your organisation’s performance management scores can show differences in:

• how men and women perform
• how they are assessed

Differences in men and women’s performance scores can have an effect on their progression.

Look at the performance scores of men and women. If possible, break them down by grade and job. This is important if there are different performance management approaches for different groups.

If your employees assess their own performance, look for any imbalances. Research suggests that women rate themselves lower than men, and that men are overconfident in their self-ratings.

1.7 Part-time employees

More women than men work part‐time because they tend to take on more caring responsibilities.

Your part-time employees will be more likely to stay with your organisation if you:

• make sure they are well supported
• give them opportunities to progress

To assess how part-time workers progress in your organisation, look at the number you have  by grade and occupation. It may be, for example, that you are not making senior roles accessible to part‐time employees.

You could also compare performance scores and promotion rates for part-time and full-time staff.

1.8 People with caring responsibilities

Make sure you support employees to take on caring roles and responsibilities if they want to. You can do this by reviewing your policies and workplace culture.

To assess how well you are doing, see how many men and women take up things like:

• flexible working
• Shared Parental Leave
• paternity leave

If few men take them up, it could show that men and women in your organisation work quite differently. This could contribute to your gender pay gap.

Use your staff survey to assess your organisational culture. Look for differences between men and women.

For example, do your employees:

• feel supported to take up flexible working?

• feel that flexible or part-time working is a barrier to progression?

• know what flexible working and parental leave options are available to them?

2. Actions to close the gap

This section is divided into actions you can take:

• if you’re recruiting or promoting staff
• to make your organisation more inclusive
• to support your staff

Not all the actions in this guidance have supporting evidence. You should evaluate any actions you take.

See also How to improve gender equality in the workplace – evidence-based actions for employers (2021, Behavioural Insights Team).

2.1 Actions if you’re recruiting or promoting staff

Include more than one woman in shortlists for recruitment and promotions

Make sure you include more than one woman when you are creating a shortlist of qualified candidates.

Shortlists with only one woman do not increase the chance of a woman being selected.

Use skills-based assessment tasks in recruitment

Ask candidates to perform tasks you would expect them to do in the role they are applying for.

Use their performance in those tasks to assess their suitability for the role.

Standardise the tasks and scoring system to make sure you treat all candidates fairly.

Use structured interviews for recruitment and promotions

Use structured interviews that ask exactly the same questions of all candidates in a predetermined order and format.

Grade the responses using standardised criteria that you agree beforehand. This makes the responses comparable and reduces the impact of unconscious bias.

Have diverse selection panels

Some studies show that the more women a selection panel has, the more likely they are to select a woman for the role. Some studies find the opposite. The effect can also depend on the role the panel is recruiting for, and the role of women on the panel.

Encourage salary negotiation by showing salary ranges

Encourage women to negotiate their salary by making salary ranges clear, and stating when the salary for a role is negotiable.

Widen your potential applicant pool

Rethink structural issues that can prevent women from doing particular jobs. For example, do these jobs allow flexible working so that people with caring responsibilities can do them? Can you help more women to get the required qualifications?

Ask any recruitment agencies you use to include a minimum number of women in any long-lists. Take legal advice if you are considering positive action to benefit women (or men). This will help you make sure that there is no unlawful discrimination.

You should also recruit people returning to work after a career break. For example:

• target places where returners are likely to be looking

• ensure the recruitment process accommodates returners

• offer support before and during the assessment

You can read more about helping people return to work. 

2.2 Actions to make your organisation more inclusive

Make sure your promotion, pay and reward processes are transparent

Transparency is about being open about the processes, policies and criteria you use to make decisions. If you are transparent, employees are clear about how you make decisions.

Managers also understand that their decisions need to be fair and based on evidence, and that other people can review their decisions.

You can be more transparent by:

• introducing clear and fair processes for how salaries are set
• communicating salary ranges if possible, and saying whether salaries are negotiable or not – this will make it clear if it is acceptable to ask for more, which will put women and men on a more even footing
• reviewing how your organisation allocates different aspects of pay
• considering if your processes are clear and transparent, and if you hold people to account

Make sure your recruitment routes are transparent. Compare your applicant profile with the pool of potential applicants in your industry. For example, if women make up 45% of qualified people in your industry but only 25% of your applicants, why might this be?

Appoint diversity managers and task forces

Diversity managers should have:

• a senior or executive role within your organisation
• access to internal data
• the power to develop and put in place diversity strategies and policies

They should also be able to:

• ask for more information about why certain decisions were made
• hold senior staff and hiring managers to account for their recruitment decisions

Review your use of performance self-assessments

Some performance review processes include asking employees to assess themselves. If you find gender imbalances in self-assessments, consider either:

• removing them from performance management
• making sure managers do not see their employees’ self-assessment before giving them a final score

Set internal targets

One way to increase the chances of reaching your goals is by setting specific, time-bound targets. What change will your organisation achieve, and by when?

Carry out a staff survey and exit interviews

To identify issues around retention, carry out a staff survey and analyse the results. Do the same with exit interviews for people leaving your organisation.

Analyse the results by gender, and consider adding more questions to help you get to the root of issues. 

Information from exit interviews is also likely to be useful, as long as the interviews are confidential. Are there any structural issues that could influence how successful your staff feel they can be at your organisation? For example, people with caring responsibilities may not feel they can apply for senior roles that do not offer flexible working. As a result, talented people may feel they cannot develop and succeed within your organisation, causing them to leave.

Offer training for staff

Unconscious bias training aims to:

• make people aware of any harmful unconscious biases they may have
• reduce the impact of those biases

Diversity training can help raise awareness, but it is unlikely to change people’s behaviour.

2.3 Actions to support your staff

Improve flexible working

Improve flexible working in your organisation by:

• advertising and offering all jobs as having flexible working options, unless there is a strong business reason why this is not possible
• allowing your employees to have flexible working where possible
• encouraging senior leaders to advocate flexible working
• offering flexible working at higher grades, if women are not applying for promotion
• encouraging men to work flexibly, so that it isn’t seen as only a female benefit

This might involve:

• having a resourcing meeting to work out what arrangements might be possible
• giving managers advice on how flexible working might look in practice in their team

Check whether part-time employees have equal access to training and development. For example, is training offered at times that suit their needs? Are their managers avoiding assumptions about their career aspirations?

Encourage employees to take Shared Parental Leave (SPL)

Offer enhanced SPL at the same level as enhanced maternity pay.

Encourage your employees to take up SPL. For example:

• tell future fathers that they can request SPL by law
• give future parents help and support to understand the scheme

If you find a gender imbalance among employees with caring responsibilities:

• raise awareness about SPL, paternity leave and flexible working – give out clear guidance or run a campaign
• consider increasing pay for people on paternity leave and SPL – this may encourage male employees to play a role in childcare

Help your staff to progress

Encourage managers to track whether men and women have the same:

• chances to prove themselves – for example, the same type of work that might help them be ‘promotable’
• resources for their development – for example, access to similar training budgets
• professional support – for example, the same type of performance feedback and career conversations

Mentors provide guidance and advice, while sponsors help people to progress and be more visible.

Formal networking programmes allow members to meet and share information and career advice. Some evidence suggests that these programmes can help some women but not others.

Leadership development programmes aim to teach qualities including management skills and self confidence.

3. How to create an action plan

An action plan should explain how you aim to reduce your gender pay gap. You can do this either as part of your supporting narrative or alongside it.

Your action plan should include clear, specific targets that you commit to achieving within a specific amount of time. These can relate to actions aimed at understanding or closing your gender pay gap.

An effective action plan will help you understand your organisation’s gender pay gap. It will also show your employees and the public that you are taking steps to deal with it.

We recommend that you take the following 4 steps:

1. Analyse your data and identify actions.

2. Consult and engage.

3. Revise, assess and embed your action plan.

4. Allow enough time.

3.1 Analyse your data and identify actions

You should understand the reasons behind your gender pay gap before you try to deal with it. There can be many different causes, even for companies in the same sector.

When you understand the reasons for your gender pay gap, you can develop an action plan with a real impact.

Read more about how to understand your gender pay gap.

Adopt a systematic approach to identifying actions. Look at every stage in the employee life cycle, from recruitment to exit interview. Identify barriers, and actions to deal with them at each stage.

Make sure your actions address the specific underlying causes of your gender pay gap.

Read more about actions to close the gap.

3.2 Consult and engage

Get support from your senior leaders.

HR directors can help make sure that senior leaders understand the meaning of the gender pay gap and the best actions to take.

Talk with a wide range of staff, employee representative bodies and managers from different levels. It might help to highlight case studies from other organisations. This will help you create a plan which they can support and contribute to.

Organise working groups, informal feedback sessions and surveys, and include staff as early as possible.

3.3 Revise, assess and embed your action plan

Track your action plan, and adapt it as needed. Be clear with your colleagues that it may change over time.

It can help to:

• set specific, time-bound targets
• appoint someone, such as a diversity officer, to work with on your plan

Make sure that actions to close your gender pay gap become part of normal working practices. This will show your commitment and reduce any potential burden on staff and managers.

When you are developing and carrying out your action plan, think about:

• existing monitoring and review processes
• the wider equality and diversity context

3.4 Allow enough time

Give yourself enough time to develop an effective action plan. It is an ongoing and iterative process.

Make sure you have time to consider your approach. You can refine the content so it reflects the causes of your gender pay gap.

Allow time for each of the following stages:

• analysis and research – understand the causes of your gender pay gap, and explore options to improve it

• drafting – write actions, or collate them from other documents

• consultation and feedback – share with other stakeholders

• refinement – adjust content to reflect feedback

• sign-off – approve and publish