"As the EU moves toward detailed gender pay transparency, organizations are being advised to act now to manage potential risk. With men earning an average of 13% more than their female counterparts in the EU, 17% more in the US and an estimated 23% more globally, companies face challenges identifying pockets of pay inequality buried within their organizations and either addressing them or proving they are not the result of gender-based discrimination," according to EY.

"Worldwide, women only make 77 cents for every dollar earned by men. As a result, there's a lifetime of income inequality between men and women, and more women are retiring into poverty," states a UN Women publication. It is clear that action is required to close this gap, and payroll professionals are already working out how to face this challenge.

"Countries such as the US and UK already require companies to publish gender pay gap data. These requirements focus on calculating aggregate pay differences based on gender but not one-to-one comparisons based on actual work done,” according to EY.

Technology and data analysis will be paramount for carrying out a gender pay transparency plan in the upcoming years. We invite you to check the 17th Floor’s 10 best E-Payroll software you can use to support your company.

On a final note, if we take into consideration that according to the EY 2022 Work Reimagined Survey, 20% of employees addressed pay equity as the single most important action a company can take to improve diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I), this measure will also highly affect companies' culture and retention.