Pay Transparency Doesn't Create Pay Problems. It Exposes Them with Tom Heys

Tom Heys has spent years inside the complexity of pay gap reporting and pay transparency law. And along the way, he learned something most organizations only discover when it is too late. The problem was never the reporting. It was the data behind it.

In this episode of @thepayrollpodcast, Nick Day, CEO of JGA Recruitment, sits down with Tom Heys, Co-Lead of the EU Pay Transparency Directive Practice and Head of UK Gender Pay Gap Reporting at Lewis Silkin LLP, to go deep on the regulatory shift that is pulling payroll out of the back office and into the frontline of compliance, legal risk, and organizational strategy. The EU Pay Transparency Directive.

This is not just a conversation about a new regulation. It is a conversation about what equal pay actually means, where the data to prove it lives, and why most organizations are not as ready as they think. Tom and Nick explore why payroll data is the only true source of what employees actually receive, why HR systems alone will never be enough for PTD compliance, how poor pay element labeling and missing audit trails create legal exposure, what happens when employees and worker representatives start asking why they are paid what they are paid, how the Directive is reshaping recruitment through mandatory pay ranges and the ban on pay history questions, and why the biggest risk behind the PTD is not a regulatory fine but a wave of equal pay claims worth tens of millions.

It is not just about reporting a number.

It is about being able to defend every number you report.

And if your organization has ever assumed that pay transparency compliance is a legal or HR problem rather than a payroll one, this episode will show you exactly why that assumption is the most expensive mistake you can make.

Whether you are a payroll leader being pulled into a PTD project, an HR or reward professional trying to understand the data challenge ahead, or a multinational employer navigating fragmented implementation timelines across the EU, this episode is essential listening.

This episode is sponsored by Deel

Managing a global team is complex, Deel makes it simpler with payroll, HR, IT, and compliance all in one place. That's why over 35,000 businesses trust Deel to hire, pay, and manage their teams worldwide.

See how Deel works at www.deel.com/nickday

Guest and Host:

Connect with Tom Heys: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomheys/

Connect with Nick Day: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickday/

Find your ideal payroll candidate with our job vacancy system: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/919cf6b9ea

Sign up to the Payroll Podcast Newsletter: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/23e7b153e7

Stay tuned for the next episode of The Payroll Podcast, brought to you by Nick Day, CEO at JGA Recruitment, landing soon!

Enjoyed this? Check out our sister podcast @thehrldpodcast for more great content!

Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction: Why Payroll Is Central to Pay Transparency

(01:27) What Payroll Really Means, It's All About the Data

(03:04) Why Payroll Teams Are Being Pulled Into PTD Projects

(04:53) Is Payroll Ready for This Level of Visibility?

(07:00) The Data Quality Problem, What's Missing and Why It Matters

(09:28) The Legal Consequences of Getting Your Data Wrong

(13:51) What To Do When You Discover a Pay Gap

(17:59) How the Directive Is Reshaping Recruitment and Pay Ranges

(26:53) Employee Questions, Why Am I Grouped With Them?

(29:34) Cross-Border and Multi-Entity Pay Risks

(33:55) Implementation Timeline, Which Countries Are Ready?

(41:38) Closing Advice, What Payroll Leaders Need To Do Now