A report published this week indicates that the gender pay gap increases dramatically on a woman's return to work following maternity leave. Whilst this may not be entirely surprising, the statistics are depressing. The report suggests that by the time the first child is aged 12, a woman's hourly wages are a third below men's. Part-time working arrangements, missed promotions and necessary time out of the workplace are all contributing to what is being labelled the "mum tax".

Recent research estimates that women earn 18 per cent less than men on average and male managers are 40 per cent more likely than female managers to be promoted.

The government has indicated that it is still committed to closing the gender pay gap in the UK but publication of the final gender pay gap reporting regulations has been delayed. Notwithstanding that, it is still anticipated that gender pay gap reporting obligations will take effect from April 2017.

In the meantime, a number of companies have considered innovative ways in which they can close the gender pay gap and ensure that women are given opportunities at the top. We set out a few practical ideas below:

1. Encourage shared parental leave: Although the uptake of shared parental leave has been disappointingly low, some employers are offering enhanced shared parental pay to try to encourage fathers to take the new form of leave. It is hoped that this will give the opportunity for mothers to return to work at an earlier date and avoid some of the pitfalls of being out of the workplace for an extended period.

2. Offering women a pay rise: It may seem a shockingly obvious way to tackle the gender pay gap but the University of Essex and Brainlabs, a marketing agency, have recently increased the pay of their female staff to bring their average pay into line with their male colleagues, branding it a "pay gap tax".

3. Allowing babies in the office: Amongst other employers, taxi firm, Addison Lee, has reportedly experimented with the idea, and Goldman Sachs supports parents returning to work with an on-site office crèche. These schemes enable employees to return to the workplace. However, where employers do offer such arrangements, they should be careful to ensure that the arrangements do not prove disruptive or interfere with any employee's ability to carry out their job.

4. Enable parents to work from home: Flexible working is an invaluable tool in an employer's toolkit and research suggests that those who are allowed to work flexibly are often more productive. Where possible, employers should support and encourage parents seeking alternative working arrangements.

5. Subsidise childcare: Childcare vouchers already provide a tax efficient way for employers to help employees with their childcare costs. However, some childcare voucher schemes do affect tax credits and for some mothers on low income, once childcare and travel costs are accounted for, it can become financially unattractive to work. There is currently a campaign on-going calling for state childcare assistance once paid parental leave ends for a parent.

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