Gender Pay Gap Reporting: Leading the Way in 2026

Gender pay gap reporting is one part of a much-needed "whole of society" strategy to address female participation rates and employment gaps. While it is not a silver bullet for the structural or cultural causes of gender inequality, it serves as a critical diagnostic tool, one that now has the full weight of legislative requirements and a centralised digital infrastructure behind it.

Key terminology

  • Gender Pay Gap: the difference in the average hourly wage of men and women across a workforce.
  • Pay transparency: the practice of businesses being open about wages and job classifications, enabling salary comparisons between roles of equal value.
  • The GPG portal: Ireland’s new central reporting database designed to bring clarity, accountability, and public visibility to gender pay gap data.

1. Understanding the Gap

The gender pay gap measures the difference in average hourly earnings between all men and all women in an organisation, not just those in similar jobs, with similar working patterns or with similar competencies, qualifications or experience. It is important to note that a gap does not necessarily imply discrimination or a lack of "equal pay for equal work." Instead, it reports a gender representation gap.

When women are concentrated in lower-paid roles or are underrepresented in senior leadership, the gap widens. Gender pay gap reporting often further highlights important challenges that business and policy-makers are grappling with, such as:

  • What barriers prevent women from reaching senior positions?
  • Why are lower-paid roles disproportionately held by women?
  • How can we better support those with caring responsibilities?

2. Who Must Report in 2026?

As of 2025, the reporting threshold has expanded significantly. In the 2026 cycle, the following requirements apply:

  • Scope: All employers with 50 or more employees are now legally required to report.
  • The Timeline: Employers choose a "snapshot date" in June. They then have five months to prepare their data, with the reporting deadline falling in November of the same year.

What must be reported?

Employers are required to publish seven key metrics:

  1. The mean and median pay gap in hourly pay between male and female employees
  2. The mean and median pay gap in hourly pay between part-time male and female employees
  3. The mean and median pay gap in hourly pay between temporary male and female employee
  4. The mean and median bonus pay gap between male and female employees
  5. The percentage of male and female employees who received bonus pay
  6. The percentage of male and female employees who received benefit in kind
  7. The percentage of male and female employees in each of four pay band quartiles

The narrative requirement: Figures alone are not enough. Employers must provide a written statement explaining the reasons for any gap and outlining the specific actions -current or planned - to address it.

3. The new Gender Pay Gap Portal

To date employers, have to make their report available on their website, or in an alternative way that is accessible to all employees and the public, for a period of at least 3 years from reporting.

The most significant development for 2026 is the introduction of a Gender Pay Gap Portal which will be an additional requirement in due course. The portal launched on a voluntary basis in December 2025 and almost 500 employers from across all sectors have uploaded their reports already.

  • Mandatory transition: Portal submission will become a legal requirement later this year as the Government finalises amendments to the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021.
  • Early adoption: Employers are encouraged to register and upload current and previous reports voluntarily now.
  • Public Visibility: In the coming months, the portal will go live for public viewing, allowing talent, consumers, and peers to compare progress across sectors.

Resources:

Registration is straightforward, and a dedicated suite of resources is available to guide you through the process. · Register & upload: Gender Pay Gap Ireland Portal · Resources & guidance: Visit gov.ie/genderpaygap for FAQs and Helpdesk support.

Note: Please ensure you review the Terms of Use and Privacy Notice before registering. Participation at this stage remains entirely voluntary.

4. Guidance on calculations

The guidance provided by the Department lays out how employers can calculate for each person employed on the chosen snapshot date their total ordinary pay, total bonus, total benefit-in-kind and total hours worked for the reporting period. Employers will also need to be mindful of which employees were full-time, part-time or temporary during the reporting period.

The central calculation is that of the hourly rate of pay which involves the employee’s ordinary pay, bonus paid during the relevant pay period, divided by the number of hours worked in the relevant pay period. Calculations are based on the 12-month period preceding your chosen June snapshot date.

It is essential to be aware of the various definitions throughout as they identify what is to be included or indeed excluded from different calculations. This is particularly relevant for employers who may have already reported in other jurisdictions or have used the UK methodology when calculating the gender pay gap as the definitions may vary e.g., the Irish definition of ordinary pay although quite similar to the UK definition, includes overtime and requires employers to have a strong record of all overtime hours to take into account for this calculation.