The most common mistake in gender pay gap reporting is rarely in the calculation itself. The result is only as good as the data it is built on, and that is where things often go wrong: a job classification that has not been applied consistently, a count of employees made at the wrong time, or a calculation that no one can reconstruct later. Anyone who starts preparing the report only when the deadline is in sight runs into exactly these problems.
The solution does not lie in a faster calculation method, but in putting the steps that precede the report in order. Below are the mistakes that occur most often, and what to do about them.
The report stands or falls with the job classification
The gender pay gap is not calculated across the entire organisation, but per category of employees performing equal or equivalent work. If that classification is not consistent or not based on objective, gender-neutral criteria, then the result says little: jobs that are actually comparable are then in different categories, or vice versa. This is the mistake with the greatest impact, because it only becomes visible once the figures are there. Anyone who does not yet have a fixed system for this would do well to establish it before the reporting period begins; reviewing the basis of the job classification again helps to see which criteria play a role in it.
Counting employees incorrectly
Whether the reporting obligation applies, and which categories employees fall into, depends on how they are counted. Part-time workers, workers on call, and employees working through a temporary work arrangement are not always included in the same way, and a headcount gives a different picture than a count in full-time equivalents. A different counting method can lead an employer to think they are below the threshold when they are not, or for a category to be represented as too small or too large. If you are unsure whether the reporting obligation currently applies to your organisation, then that can be seen in a few questions without any obligation attached to it.
The wrong reference date or period
The report works with a fixed period and a fixed moment when data is collected. If that period is changed halfway through, or if data from different months are mixed together, then a comparison is created that does not match. This is especially true for organisations that manually compile the data from multiple sources, such as payroll administration and a separate personnel file that were not updated on the same date.
Insufficient documentation of the calculation
A report that is correct, but which no one can explain how the figures came about, creates a different problem in the long term. As soon as questions come up, for example from an employee who submits a request for information, it is helpful if the underlying classification and count can still be reconstructed. This is precisely the part where a calculation module makes a difference compared to a spreadsheet built by one person; what the calculation module does for your company shows how that documentation automatically runs along with the calculation.
Starting too late
The report calls for data over a longer period, not a snapshot. Anyone who only starts collecting job information and salary data a few weeks beforehand often only discovers then that the classification is incomplete or that data is missing. Starting early leaves room to fill gaps before they end up in the report.
How to prevent this
The common thread behind these errors is the same: reporting is a sum of earlier choices, and those choices are better made calmly than under time pressure. A fixed, documented job classification, a consistent counting method, and a calculation that is documented rather than reconstructible from loose files, prevent most of the problems listed above. As for whether a found difference between categories is justified, a legal assessment remains necessary; that is something different from getting the reporting itself in order.
Do you want to see where your organization currently stands, for example whether the reporting obligation already applies and what steps that entails? The free quick-scan provides an indication of that in a few questions, and the most frequently asked questions about gender pay gap reporting go deeper into the aspects that have been outlined above.