Ms Nichola Harkin:

The Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, which I understand will be enacted shortly, introduces rules regarding banded hours and will impose onerous burdens on employers. I know from speaking with many of our members that part-time work is becoming an increasingly requested element from employees and many companies do it to keep female workers in the workforce. I would be conscious of painting part-time work as somehow precarious work. It is high-paid for many people and keeps them in the workforce. It is a choice and we need to be careful not to disregard that fact. I am always conscious of that in respect of many of the issues that are coming up with the gender pay gap. Having spoken with members which offer salary sacrifice measures, that can impact their gender pay gap. We need to be careful not to disincentivise measures that companies are bringing in to have a more inclusive workforce. I take the Deputy's point that the task seems simple but, having spoken with members, we have had meetings for three to four hours trying to figure out how some of this will feed into their gender pay gap reporting. It is simple for companies that pay on an hourly basis and that have strict pay regimes within the workforce. For companies which offer more salary sacrifice measures and different benefits, it is more difficult than one would think and we need to have regard to that.