Current approach

One function of WGEA is to ‘work with employers to maximise the effectiveness of the administration of the Act, including by minimising the regulatory burden on employers’ (section 10(1)(ea) of the Act).

The Government’s Deregulation Agenda is ensuring regulation across Government remains fit for purpose, maintains critical safeguards and is implemented well. By reducing unnecessary regulatory burden, it becomes easier for business to invest, create jobs and grow the economy.

One of the focus areas for the Government is streamlining Commonwealth interactions with employers to reduce regulatory burden for employers. This includes implementing a ‘tell us once’ policy wherever possible and appropriate.

Proposed approach

A key theme in the consultation was the need to reduce the regulatory burden on employers and streamline reporting. In contrast, another key theme was the need to expand the data reported to WGEA given its value in monitoring gender equality across Australian workplaces. There were different views on where to strike the right balance. But it is clear there are opportunities to streamline the data collection process. This will both reduce the regulatory burden on employers and enhance the data WGEA receives. Streamlining data collection will help improve the quality and accuracy of the data WGEA collects. In turn this will enhance the data-backed insights WGEA provides to employers to help them drive change on gender equality in their workplaces.

Many employers and business groups commented on the significant time and resources taken to fulfil WGEA reporting requirements. Employers reported that the aspects of the WGEA questionnaires and Workplace Profile that took the most time are manual calculations of reporting lines to the CEO, annualising full-time equivalent salaries for part-time and casual employees and calculating ‘proportions’ of their workforce.

‘Reporting levels to the CEO’ requires employers to report on managerial distance from the CEO or equivalent. The method of describing employee positions and distance from the CEO does not align with standard reporting structures and processes. This question is a particular ‘pain point’ for employers reporting to WGEA. To address these concerns and reduce the regulatory burden on business, it is recommended that the ‘reporting levels to the CEO’ question be removed (Recommendation 4.1.a). This recommendation will alleviate a major time-consuming, manual burden for employers reporting to WGEA. WGEA considers that this recommendation will not diminish the effectiveness of their data as the ‘manager’ questions employers must report on provide similar data.

Employers are currently required to calculate a full-time equivalent salary for casual and part-time employees. This is burdensome and can produce inaccurate data. That is why it is recommended that relevant employers report on actual earnings of part-time and casual employees as well as the number of hours employees are engaged instead of having to provide annualised full-time equivalent figures for part-time and casual employees Recommendation 4.1.b).

Currently the WGEA legislation provides that employers report on the proportion of the workforce who have access to employer-funded paid parental leave for primary and secondary carers, and the proportion of employees who took a period of parental leave who ceased employment during, or at the end of, that period. This is difficult for employers to calculate and as such the data is of varying degrees of quality and often inconsistent. Due to the questionable quality of this data WGEA has indicated that it has a low reliance on this data and does not make it available for third parties to utilise. Given these issues, it is recommended that these ‘proportion’ questions be amended to clarify that relevant employers report by gender, employment status and manager/non-manager category:

• the number of employees with access to employer-funded paid parental leave for primary carers and for secondary carers and the eligibility period for access, and
• the number of employees who took a period of parental leave who ceased employment during, or at the end of that period.

The technical recommendations proposed in this section are in addition to Recommendation 1.1, which is the headline recommendation in this report to reduce the regulatory burden on employers, and improve the quality of data collected by WGEA.

The Office of Best Practice Regulation in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet participated in the WGEA Review consultation process and will continue to be involved to assess the regulatory impact of any reforms flowing from the WGEA Review.

As noted in Recommendations 1.1, 2.1, 3.1, 7.2 it is proposed that further consultation be done with employees, employers and the broader Australian community to analyse the full regulatory, economic and social impacts of those recommendations.