How to calculate the gender pay gap in Ireland

The method in S.I. No. 264/2022, step by step. Every figure starts from each employee's hourly remuneration.

1. Hourly remuneration for each employee (Regulation 3)

Add the employee's ordinary pay and bonus remuneration paid in the 12-month reporting period, then divide by their total working hours in that period.

• Ordinary pay is basic pay, allowances, piece-work pay, shift premium and overtime, before statutory deductions. It excludes redundancy or termination pay and non-cash remuneration (benefits in kind). Pay for work done outside the reporting period is excluded.
• Bonus remuneration is money, vouchers or shares relating to profit sharing, productivity, performance, incentive or commission (Regulation 5). If a bonus relates to a period of a different length from the reporting period, it is adjusted: divide by the days in the bonus period and multiply by the days in the reporting period.

2. Total working hours (Regulation 4)

• Fixed hours: the hours in the contract in force on the snapshot date, for the year.
• Hours that vary: hours in the 12 weeks ending with the last full week of the period, divided by 12 and multiplied by 52.14 (weeks with no hours are skipped and replaced by an earlier week).
• Fewer than 12 weeks worked: a number that fairly represents the employee's annual hours.
• Piece-work: the hours actually worked on piece-work.

A common mistake is entering weekly hours instead of the annual total, which inflates hourly pay about 52 times.

3. Mean and median hourly gaps (Regulations 7 and 8)

For men (A) and women (B), work out the mean (average) and the median (middle value) hourly remuneration. The gap is (A − B) ÷ A × 100. Do this for all employees, for part-time employees, and for employees on temporary contracts.

4. Bonus and benefit-in-kind figures (Regulation 9)

• Mean and median bonus gaps, using only employees who were paid a bonus, with the same (A − B) ÷ A × 100 formula.
• The percentage of men, and of women, who were paid a bonus.
• The percentage of men, and of women, who received benefits in kind.

5. Pay quartiles (Regulation 10)

Rank all employees from lowest to highest hourly remuneration and split them into four equal-sized bands: lower, lower middle, upper middle and upper. Report the percentage of men and of women in each band. Where people on the same rate fall into more than one band, keep the male/female proportion for that rate the same in each band as far as possible.

Doing it without a spreadsheet

PayGap Pro does all of this from a payroll CSV, checks every row and drafts the report. Names aren't needed: tick the box on the upload page and they're removed in your browser before upload, or use Private mode to calculate on your own computer.

Last updated 2026-10-16. Guidance, not legal advice. Sources: S.I. No. 264/2022 and S.I. No. 212/2025 (Irish Statute Book).