Equality and Human Rights Commission

As an early step many employers calculate the gap between the average earnings of all women in the organisation compared with the average earnings of all men. This overall, or headline, pay gap can be substantial. The calculation can be repeated for each protected group.

Watchpoint

Overall pay gap
Caution - many people misunderstand the overall pay gap figure. It is unlikely to compare ‘like-with-like’, for example, men and women doing equal work - which should be the basis for a pay audit. This is because men and women are likely to be spread unevenly throughout the jobs and levels in your organisation. So this overall gender pay gap can more accurately be seen as an ‘equal opportunity gap’. It generally favours men because they tend to occupy more of the higher paid jobs and men are more heavily represented at senior levels.