Workplaces of 100 or more staff will have to report on new equality indicators  as a result of the passing of the new Workplace Gender Equality Act.

The act is a significant advance on its predecessor, the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999, shifting the focus from equal opportunity for women to gender equality. Under the new act, non-public sector organisations will have to report on actual gender equality outcomes, and provide the Workplace Gender Equality Agency with standardised data. “There is work involved in reporting, but it will benefit the organisations,” said Sally Macindoe, Norton Rose partner and head of diversity at the firm. “We have been interested in how many of our clients have commenced a dialog with us about establishing strategies of their own to improve diversity and equality in their workplaces.”

One of the key indicators companies will now have to report on is remuneration. “Equal pay provisions are an important new initiative,” said Macindoe. “We have been looking at this issue at Norton Rose for a long time. The fact that they are introducing reporting will improve workplaces.”

According to Middleton’s partner Kathy Dalton, employers will need to start preparing for the new regime sooner rather than later, despite its commencement in 2014, based on results from 2013. “There are a range of areas that will require more onerous reporting under the new regime,” said Dalton. “The first time employers need to report under the new regime will require a lot input from advisors, as it is asking them to look quite specifically at indicators, which have not been needed before.”

The reported data will put organisations across the country in a better position to achieve workplace gender equality according to Helen Conway, director of the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency, which will be replaced by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency. The new agency will use the data to set industry-specific benchmarks.

The legal industry has already made extensive advancements in reporting gender equality, and as a result will be well placed to deal with the new reporting requirements according to Macindoe. “There are a lot of firms which have put a lot of effort into this issue of equality,” she said. “The benefits of doing this now and having rigorous strategies for the profession are many.”

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