What is a “category of workers,” and how should we define it for reporting?

To report meaningfully on pay gaps, employers need to group employees into “categories of workers” - clusters of roles that can fairly be compared. 

The EU Pay Transparency Directive doesn’t define categories in detail. Organisations must set their own, as long as they’re objective, consistent and explainable. 
 

In Ireland, the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 requires employers to report pay gaps by ‘categories of employees.’ While the law doesn’t prescribe exact definitions, employers must group employees in a way that is objective, consistent, and explainable 

A “category of workers” is central to how pay gaps are measured and analysed. It ensures that pay comparisons are made between genuinely comparable roles. 

Typical bases for categories include: 

• Job level (e.g. entry-level, professional, management)
• Function or job family (e.g. HR, finance, operations)
• Contract type (e.g. permanent, temporary, part-time) 

Best practice: 

• Start with your existing job architecture. If you already use job grades, function clusters, or salary frameworks, these can provide a solid foundation.
• Make sure categories are objective and gender-neutral.
• Apply definitions consistently across the organisation.
• Ensure groupings are easy to explain to employees, auditors, and regulators. 

 The risks: 

• Categories that are too broad may hide inequalities.
• Categories that are too narrow may lead to unreliable data or miss minimum reporting thresholds. 

Defining categories carefully strengthens compliance and highlights where fairness already exists, and where improvements are needed. 
In Ireland, overly broad categories may obscure meaningful differences in pay, while overly narrow ones may result in small sample sizes that limit statistical reliability. Employers should aim for balance and document their rationale. 

See also: Which employees are included in the scope of the Directive? 

Review your internal structures and decide how to define categories that make sense for your workforce. Involve HR, legal and employee representatives early, so definitions are credible and defensible. 

This is also an opportunity to improve internal consistency. Well-designed categories make pay decisions easier to explain, and help build trust. 

“Category of workers” may sound technical, but it’s a critical building block of pay transparency. Get it right, and your reporting goes beyond compliance, becoming a tool for credibility and culture change.