Equal Pay Audits

An equal pay audit occurs when an employer is found to have committed an equal pay breach by a tribunal. These audits serve the purpose of identifying what improvements an employer needs to make in order to avoid breaching equal pay regulations in the future.

Equal Pay audits will not be carried out if:

• You have less than ten full-time (or full-time equivalent) employees, immediately before the date of the tribunal's judgement.

• One has already been completed in the previous three years which meets the requirements of the above regulations, or

• It’s clear without an audit whether any action is required to avoid equal pay breaches occurring or continuing, or

• The equal pay breach which the tribunal found gives no reasons to think that there may be other breaches, or

• The disadvantages of an audit would outweigh its benefits.

Once the audit has been completed, it must be sent to the tribunal so it can assess compliance. If compliant, it must be posted on the employer's website, and be left there for at least three years. The employer then must inform all the staff about whom gender pay information was included in the audit so they can obtain a copy of it.