2021 workplace gender audit compliance issues index

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CG1 – Your audit data contained one or more critical automated tables that were empty

Within the Workforce Reporting Template, some tables are populated automatically from unit level workforce data, while others must be populated manually.

It appears that a critical automated table was empty in your submitted audit data.

There are several reasons why you might be receiving this feedback:

  • You did not enter data on the ‘Unit Level Upload’ sheet.
  • You left a mandatory field on the ‘Unit Level Upload’ sheet empty.
  • The data you entered on the ‘Unit Level Upload’ sheet did not match the Unit Level Data Specification (for example – because it includes values not listed on the ‘Acceptable values’ sheet).
  • You did not complete step 4 (Populate data measures) from the ‘START HERE’ sheet.
  • You inadvertently deleted or modified formulas in the template.
  • You entered data on the ‘Unit Level Upload’ sheet after completing step 7 (Prepare data for submission) from the ‘START HERE’ sheet.

You must resolve this issue and resubmit your audit or email the Commission if you need to discuss this issue further.

How can I resolve this?

If the listed data tables appear complete in your Workforce Reporting Template, we recommend completing step 7 (Prepare data for submission) from the ‘START HERE’ sheet and resubmitting your audit.

If you have inadvertently deleted formulas from an automated data table, you may be able to use the Workforce Reporting Template’s upgrade function to migrate your data into a new copy of the template.

Please email the Commission if you need help determining whether this applies to you.

To resubmit your audit, please follow the steps described in the ‘Resubmitting your audit’ section of your compliance report.


CG2 – Your audit data contained one or more critical manual-entry tables that were empty

Within the Workforce Reporting Template, some tables are populated automatically from unit level workforce data, while others must be populated manually.

It appears that a critical manual-entry table was empty in your submitted audit data.

There are several reasons why you might be receiving this feedback:

  • You did not record anything in the table (for example – because your organisation was unable to collect data to meet our specifications).
  • You did not enter any numbers in the table (for example – because you wrote only free-text comments).
  • You entered only zeroes in the table (for example – because all your governing body members chose not to disclose their gender).
  • You entered data into the wrong part of the table (for example – because you typed directly into the Total row).
  • You entered data into the table after completing step 7 (Prepare data for submission) from the ‘START HERE’ sheet.

You must resolve this issue and resubmit your audit, or email the Commission if you need to discuss this issue further.

How can I resolve this?

If the listed data tables appear complete in your Workforce Reporting Template, we recommend completing step 7 (Prepare data for submission) from the ‘START HERE’ sheet and resubmitting your audit.

To resubmit your audit, please follow the steps described in the ‘Resubmitting your audit’ section of your compliance report.


DA1 – In at least one table, you have only reported against a single gender

Most tables within the Workforce Reporting Template require you to subdivide a group by gender.

In at least one of these tables, you only reported against a single gender.

There are several reasons why you might be receiving this feedback:

  • You were unable to subdivide the group by gender, so you reported on all genders together.
  • All people reported in the table were genuinely of the same gender.

What happens if I do nothing?

The Commission may exclude some of your audit data from analysis and reporting if you do not take action.

When the Commission develops publications or conducts research on topics that rely on the data in the tables we’ve listed, your organisation’s data may be excluded. We may note that your organisation did not submit suitable data.

How can I resolve this?

If all people reported in the tables we listed were genuinely of the same gender, you do not need to resubmit your audit. Please email the Commission to advise us that your data is accurate, referencing issue DA1.

To resubmit your audit, please follow the steps described in the ‘Resubmitting your audit’ section of your compliance report.


DA2 – In at least one table, you have only reported against a single level to CEO

Some tables within the Workforce Reporting Template require you to subdivide a group of employees by classification (level to CEO).

In at least one of these tables, you only reported against a single level to CEO.

There are several reasons why you might be receiving this feedback:

  • You were unable to subdivide the employees by level to CEO, so you reported on all levels together.
  • All employees reported in the table were genuinely from the same level to CEO.

What happens if I do nothing?

The Commission may exclude some of your audit data from analysis and reporting if you do not take action.

When the Commission develops publications or conducts research on topics that rely on the data in the tables we’ve listed, your organisation’s data may be excluded. We may note that your organisation did not submit suitable data.

How can I resolve this?

If all employees reported in the tables we listed were genuinely from the same level to CEO, you do not need to resubmit your audit. Please contact the Commission at enquiries@genderequalitycommission.vic.gov.au to advise us that your data is accurate, referencing issue DA2.

To resubmit your audit, please follow the steps described in the ‘Resubmitting your audit’ section of your compliance report.


DA3 – In at least one table, you have only reported against a single employment basis

Some tables within the Workforce Reporting Template require you to subdivide a group of employees by employment basis.

In at least one of these tables, you only reported against a single employment basis.

There are several reasons why you might be receiving this feedback:

  • You were unable to subdivide the employees by employment basis, so you reported on all employment bases together.
  • All employees reported in the table were genuinely from the same employment basis.

What happens if I do nothing?

The Commission may exclude some of your audit data from analysis and reporting if you do not take action.

When the Commission develops publications or conducts research on topics that rely on the data in the tables we’ve listed, your organisation’s data may be excluded. We may note that your organisation did not submit suitable data.

How can I resolve this?

If all employees reported in the tables we listed were genuinely from the same employment basis, you do not need to resubmit your audit. Please email the Commission to advise us that your data is accurate, referencing issue DA3.

To resubmit your audit, please follow the steps described in the ‘Resubmitting your audit’ section of your compliance report.


DA4 – You reported that all members of your governing body held the same position

Table 2.1 within the Workforce Reporting Template requires you to subdivide your governing body by position (chair or other governing body member).

It appears that you reported all members of your governing body as holding the same position.

There are several reasons why you might be receiving this feedback:

  • You reported all members of your governing body together, under one position or the other.
  • One or more members of your governing body chose not to disclose their gender and could not be reported in Table 2.1.
  • Your governing body genuinely has a chair but no other members.
  • Your governing body genuinely has members but no chair.

What happens if I do nothing?

The Commission may exclude some of your audit data from analysis and reporting if you do not take action.

When the Commission develops publications or conducts research on topics that rely on the data in the tables we’ve listed, your organisation’s data may be excluded. We may note that your organisation did not submit suitable data.

How can I resolve this?

If Table 2.1 accurately reflects your governing body, you do not need to resubmit your audit. Please email the Commission to advise us that your data is accurate, referencing issue DA4.

To resubmit your audit, please follow the steps described in the ‘Resubmitting your audit’ section of your compliance report.


DG1 – Your audit data contained one or more manual-entry tables that were empty

Within the Workforce Reporting Template, some tables are populated automatically from unit level workforce data, while others must be populated manually.

It appears that at least one of the manual-entry tables was empty in your submitted audit data.

There are several reasons why you might be receiving this feedback:

  • You did not record anything in the table (for example – because your organisation was unable to collect data to meet our specifications).
  • You did not enter any numbers in the table (for example – because you wrote only free-text comments).
  • You intentionally left the table blank (for example – because your organisation had no formal complaints of sexual harassment in the reporting period).
  • You entered only zeroes in the table (for example – because your organisation had no formal complaints of sexual harassment in the reporting period).
  • You entered data into the table after completing step 7 (Prepare data for submission) from the ‘START HERE’ sheet.

Please note that intersectional data tables are optional in this reporting period and have been excluded from this item.

What happens if I do nothing?

When the Commission develops publications or conducts research on topics that rely on the data in the tables we’ve listed, your organisation’s data may be excluded. We may note that your organisation did not submit suitable data.

How can I resolve this?

If your organisation genuinely has nothing to report in these data tables (for example – because your organisation had no formal complaints of sexual harassment in the reporting period), you do not need to resubmit your audit. Please email the Commission to advise us that your data is accurate, referencing issue DG1.

If the listed data tables appear complete in your Workforce Reporting Template, we recommend completing step 7 (Prepare data for submission) from the ‘START HERE’ sheet and resubmitting your audit.

To resubmit your audit, please follow the steps described in the ‘Resubmitting your audit’ section of your compliance report.


DG2 – Your parental leave headcount data was missing

Within the Workforce Reporting Template, Table 6.3 captures both the number of people who took parental leave, and the average duration of the leave they took (paid and unpaid).

It appears that you did not report any people who took parental leave in this reporting period.

There are several reasons why you might be receiving this feedback:

  • You did not record anything in the table (for example – because your organisation was unable to provide data that meet our specifications).
  • You did not enter any numbers in the table (for example – because you wrote only free-text comments).
  • You intentionally left the table blank (for example – because your organisation had no parental leave takers in the reporting period).
  • You entered only zeroes in the table (for example – because your organisation had no parental leave takers in the reporting period).
  • You entered data into the table after completing step 7 (Prepare data for submission) from the ‘START HERE’ sheet.

What happens if I do nothing?

When the Commission develops publications or conducts research on topics that rely on the data in this table, your organisation’s data may be excluded. We may note that your organisation did not submit suitable data.

How can I resolve this?

If your organisation genuinely had no parental leave takers in this reporting period, you do not need to resubmit your audit. Please email the Commission to advise us that your data is accurate, referencing issue DG2.

If the headcount column in Table 6.3 appears complete in your Workforce Reporting Template, we recommend completing step 7 (Prepare data for submission) from the ‘START HERE’ sheet and resubmitting your audit.

To resubmit your audit, please follow the steps described in the ‘Resubmitting your audit’ section of your compliance report.


DG3 – Your parental leave duration data was missing or incomplete

Within the Workforce Reporting Template, Table 6.3 captures both the number of people who took parental leave, and the average duration of the leave they took (paid and unpaid).

It appears that you reported at least one group of parental leave takers but did not report the average leave duration taken by that group – or vice versa.

There are several reasons why you might be receiving this feedback:

  • You recorded data in the headcount columns of Table 6.3, but not in the leave duration columns (for example – because your organisation was unable to collect leave duration data to meet our specifications).
  • You did not enter any numbers in leave duration columns (for example – wrote only free-text comments).
  • You reported parental leave takers of a particular gender, level to CEO and employment basis, but entered only zeroes in the corresponding leave duration columns (for example – because your organisation was unable to calculate average leave durations for that group).
  • You reported a leave duration at a particular gender, level to CEO and employment basis, but entered a zero in the corresponding headcount column.
  • You entered data into leave duration columns after completing step 7 (Prepare data for submission) from the ‘START HERE’ sheet.

What happens if I do nothing?

When the Commission develops publications or conducts research on topics that rely on the data in this table, your organisation’s data may be excluded. We may note that your organisation did not submit suitable data.

How can I resolve this?

If the leave duration columns in Table 6.3 appear complete in your Workforce Reporting Template, we recommend completing step 7 (Prepare data for submission) from the ‘START HERE’ sheet and resubmitting your audit.

To resubmit your audit, please follow the steps described in the ‘Resubmitting your audit’ section of your compliance report.


DT1 – You entered something other than a number in an area meant only for numerical data

The Workforce Reporting Template includes areas designed to capture comments (which can be text, numbers, or a combination of both). Other areas are designed to capture numerical data only.

We think that you entered something other than a number in an area meant only for numerical data (for example – in the body of a data table).

There are several reasons why you might be receiving this feedback:

  • You inadvertently entered comments in cells designated for numerical data (for example – because you wrote ‘No data available’ in the body of a data table instead of the comments box).
  • You described your results in words instead of entering numbers (for example – because you wrote ‘Two complaints’ instead of entering the number ‘2’).
  • You inadvertently typed non-numerical characters in cells designated for numerical data (for example – entered ‘7 ‘ with a space at the end instead of ‘7’, or entered a space in an otherwise empty cell).
  • You wrote the word ‘Nil’ instead of leaving cells blank or entering zeroes.

What happens if I do nothing?

The Commission will interpret all non-numerical entries in areas designated for numerical data as zeroes.

How can I resolve this?

If you are happy for non-numerical entries to be interpreted as zeroes, no action is required.

If you wish to revise your submission, please refer to the ‘Resubmitting your audit’ section of your compliance report.


DT2 – You entered an unexpected value in an area meant only for yes/no data

The body of Table 4.6 within the Workforce Reporting Template is designed to capture yes/no data only, with the number 1 signifying ‘yes’ and a blank signifying ‘no’. It also includes a free-text comment field at the bottom of the table.

We think that you entered something other than the number 1 in the body of this table.

There are several reasons why you might be receiving this feedback:

  • You described your results in words instead of entering the number 1 (for example – wrote ‘Implemented new complaints process’ instead of entering the number ‘1’).
  • You entered a number other than 1 (for example – entered ‘2’ because your organisation launched two communication campaigns instead of entering ‘1’ to indicate your organisation took this action).
  • You entered a zero in rows where your organisation didn’t take the action. Zeroes are not displayed visually in this table, so you may need to click each cell to see if it contains a zero. Please note the Commission inadvertently issued the template with a zero in the ‘Staff training’ cell.

What happens if I do nothing?

The Commission will interpret anything other than the number 1 (yes) as a blank (no).

How can I resolve this?

If you are happy for entries other than the number 1 to be interpreted as blanks, no action is required.

If you wish to revise your submission, please refer to the ‘Resubmitting your audit’ section of your compliance report.


The Workforce Reporting Template contains intersectional data tables. These provide space for organisations to subdivide data from a parent table along an additional demographic attribute.

Diagram showing that non-intersectional parent table 1.1 relates to intersectional tables 1.1.1 through 1.1.6 Figure 1 - Relationship between intersectional and non-intersectional tables

For example, Table 1.1 captures the composition of your workforce by gender. It is the parent table for intersectional tables 1.1.1 through 1.1.6, which break down your workforce by an additional intersectional attribute (Aboriginality, age, disability, cultural identity, religion, or sexual orientation).

There should be consistency between intersectional tables and their corresponding parent tables. For example, if you reported a total of 40 women in parent table 1.1, there should be a maximum of 40 women reported in each of the intersectional tables 1.1.1 through 1.1.6. In effect, the sum of the parts should never exceed the whole.

There is an exception to this rule – the cultural identity tables. Within our data specification, cultural identity is a multi-select field, so adding groups together may result in a single employee being counted more than once. For this reason, cultural identity tables were not checked for consistency with parent tables.

In at least one place, it appears that you have reported more people in an automated intersectional table than in the corresponding parent table.

The Commission recommends that you check that each cell in the parent table and the intersectional table contains a formula.

What happens if I do nothing?

Intersectional data tables are optional in this reporting period. However, when the Commission develops publications or conducts research on topics that rely on the data in this table, your organisation’s data may be excluded.

How can I resolve this?

If you have inadvertently deleted formulas from an automated data table, you may be able to use the Workforce Reporting Template’s upgrade function to migrate your data into a new copy of the template. Please email the Commission if you need help determining whether this applies to you.

To resubmit your audit, please follow the steps described in the ‘Resubmitting your audit’ section of your compliance report.


MM2 – At least one manual-entry intersectional data table is inconsistent with its related non-intersectional table

The Workforce Reporting Template contains intersectional data tables. These provide space for organisations to subdivide data from a parent table along an additional demographic attribute.

Diagram showing that non-intersectional parent table 2.1 relates to intersectional tables 2.1.1 through 2.1.6 Figure 2 - Relationship between intersectional and non-intersectional tables

For example, Table 2.1 captures the composition of your governing body by gender. It is the parent table for intersectional tables 2.1.1 through 2.1.6, which break down your governing body by an additional intersectional attribute (Aboriginality, age, disability, cultural identity, religion, or sexual orientation).

There should be consistency between intersectional tables and their corresponding parent tables. For example, if you reported a total of 4 women in parent table 2.1, there should be a maximum of 4 women in each of the intersectional tables 2.1.1 through 2.1.6. In effect, the sum of the parts should never exceed the whole.

There is an exception to this rule – the cultural identity tables. Within our data specification, cultural identity is a multi-select field, so adding groups together may result in a single employee being counted more than once. For this reason, cultural identity tables were not checked for consistency with parent tables.

In at least one place, it appears that you have reported more people in an intersectional table than in the corresponding parent table.

What happens if I do nothing?

Intersectional data tables are optional in this reporting period. However, when the Commission develops publications or conducts research on topics that rely on the data in this table, your organisation’s data may be excluded.

How can I resolve this?

To resubmit your audit, please follow the steps described in the ‘Resubmitting your audit’ section of your compliance report.


OU1 – You reported fewer than 50 employees

Within the Workforce Reporting Template, Table 1.1 captures the composition of your workforce as at 30 June 2021. It is populated automatically from your unit level workforce data.

It appears that you reported fewer than 50 employees in this table. Because organisations with fewer than 50 employees as at 30 June 2021 were not obligated to conduct a Workplace gender audit, we want to bring this to your attention.

There are several reasons why you might be receiving this feedback:

  • You inadvertently deleted or modified formulas in Table 1.1.
  • You made changes to your unit level workforce data after completing step 7 (Prepare data for submission) from the ‘START HERE’ sheet.
  • You entered unit level workforce data for 50 or more employees, but some of those employees chose not to disclose their gender and could not be reported in Table 1.1.
  • You genuinely had fewer than 50 employees, as at 30 June 2021.

What happens if I do nothing?

If you don’t resubmit your audit data, the Commission will treat your submitted data as accurate.

How can I resolve this?

If you genuinely had fewer than 50 employees to report in Table 1.1, no action is required.

If you did not intend to report fewer than 50 employees, please refer to the ‘Resubmitting your audit’ section of your compliance report.

If you have inadvertently deleted the formulas in Table 1.1, you may be able to use the Workforce Reporting Template’s upgrade function to migrate your data into a new copy of the template. Please email the Commission if you need help determining whether this applies to you.


OU2 – You reported an unexpected number of CEOs

Within the Workforce Reporting Template, Table 1.1 captures the composition of your workforce as at 30 June 2021, broken down by classification (level to CEO). It is populated automatically from your unit level workforce data.

The top classification (0) is reserved for your CEO or CEO equivalent. Most organisations have one and only one CEO at a time.

It appears that you reported an unexpected number of employees at the top classification (anything other than one).

There are several reasons why you might be receiving this feedback:

  • You inadvertently reported more than one employee at level 0 (for example – because more than one person acted as CEO during the reporting period).
    • Please note that your data should reflect each employee’s level to CEO as at 30 June 2021.
  • You inadvertently included non-employee governing body members in your unit level workforce data and reported them at level 0.
  • You inadvertently deleted or modified formulas in Table 1.1.
  • You made changes to your unit level workforce data after completing step 7 (Prepare data for submission) from the ‘START HERE’ sheet.
  • Your CEO or CEO equivalent chose not to disclose their gender and could not be reported in Table 1.1.
  • You genuinely had no CEO-level position within your organisation, as at 30 June 2021.
  • You genuinely had more than one CEO-level position within your organisation, as at 30 June 2021.

Because Table 3.1 also relies on level to CEO as reported in your unit level workforce data, this issue also affects your pay gap results.

What happens if I do nothing?

The Commission may exclude some of your audit data from analysis and reporting if you do not take action.

When the Commission develops publications or conducts research on topics that rely on the data in the tables we’ve listed, your organisation’s data may be excluded. We may note that your organisation did not submit suitable data.

How can I resolve this?

If your organisation genuinely had an unusual number of CEO-level position as at 30 June 2021, you do not need to resubmit your audit. Please email the Commission to advise us that your data is accurate, referencing issue OU2.

To resubmit your audit, please follow the steps described in the ‘Resubmitting your audit’ section of your compliance report.


OU3 – You reported an unexpected number of governing body chairs

Within the Workforce Reporting Template, Table 2.1 captures the composition of your governing body as at 30 June 2021, broken down by position (chair or other governing body member).

Most organisations have one and only one governing body chair at a time.

It appears that you reported an unexpected number of governing body chairs (anything other than one).

There are several reasons why you might be receiving this feedback:

  • You inadvertently reported more than one governing body chair (for example – because more than one person acted as CEO during the reporting period).
    • Please note that your data should reflect the composition of your governing body as at 30 June 2021.
  • You made changes to your data after completing step 7 (Prepare data for submission) from the ‘START HERE’ sheet.
  • Your governing body chair chose not to disclose their gender and could not be reported in Table 2.1.
  • You genuinely had no governing body chair, as at 30 June 2021.
  • You genuinely had more than one governing body chair, as at 30 June 2021.

What happens if I do nothing?

The Commission may exclude some of your audit data from analysis and reporting if you do not take action.

When the Commission develops publications or conducts research on topics that rely on the data in the tables we’ve listed, your organisation’s data may be excluded. We may note that your organisation did not submit suitable data.

How can I resolve this?

If your organisation genuinely had an unusual number of governing body chairs as at 30 June 2021, you do not need to resubmit your audit. Please email the Commission to advise us that your data is accurate, referencing issue OU3.

To resubmit your audit, please follow the steps described in the ‘Resubmitting your audit’ section of your compliance report.


OU4 – You reported an organisation-wide pay gap of exactly 0% for women

The Workforce Reporting Template automatically calculates your organisation’s gender pay gap for women from your unit level workforce data. The results can be found in the top row of Table 3.1, in the columns marked ‘W’.

A pay gap of exactly 0% for women is unusual, particularly for large organisations.

There are several reasons why you might be receiving this feedback:

  • You inadvertently removed a formula from the top row of Table 3.1.
  • You left mandatory remuneration fields empty in your unit level workforce data, causing a blank result in the top row of Table 3.1.
  • Your organisation genuinely had an organisation-wide pay gap of exactly 0% for women.

What happens if I do nothing?

If you don’t resubmit your audit data, the Commission will treat your reported result as accurate.

How can I resolve this?

If the pay gap you reported is accurate, no action is required.

If you have inadvertently deleted the pay gap formulas in Table 3.1, you may be able to use the Workforce Reporting Template’s upgrade function to migrate your data into a new copy of the template. Please email the Commission if you need help determining whether this applies to you.

Once you have resolved any issues, please refer to the ‘Resubmitting your audit’ section of your compliance report for guidance.


OU5 – You reported an organisation-wide pay gap of more than 50% or less than -50% for women

The Workforce Reporting Template automatically calculates your organisation’s gender pay gap. The results can be found in the top row of Table 3.1.

A pay gap of more than 50% or less than -50% is unusual, particularly for large organisations.

The Commission recommends that you review the Workplace Gender Audit guidance to ensure your remuneration data meets our specifications.

What happens if I do nothing?

If you don’t resubmit your audit data, the Commission will treat your reported result as accurate.

How can I resolve this?

If the pay gap you reported is accurate, no action is required.

If the pay gap you reported is not accurate, the Commission recommends that you review the Workplace Gender Audit guidance to ensure your remuneration data meets our specifications.

Once you have resolved any issues, please refer to the ‘Resubmitting your audit’ section of your compliance report for guidance.


SI1 – There were critical layout issues with your Workforce Reporting Template

Tables in the Workforce Reporting Template were laid out in a specific way, to ensure their contents can be uploaded to our Reporting Platform.

Altering the layout of the table (for example – by inserting or deleting rows) can make it difficult for the Reporting Platform to read your audit submission and interpret it correctly.

Our compliance check team reviewed your audit submission and found a significant portion of your data was affected by table layout problems.

You must resolve this issue and resubmit your audit, or email the Commission if you need to discuss this issue further.

How can I resolve this?

You will need to transfer your audit data into a new copy of the Workforce Reporting Template, then resubmit. Please email the Commission if you aren’t sure how to do this.


SI2 – Your remuneration data may not meet our specification

The Workplace Gender Audit guidance describes the three types of remuneration data collected in the Workforce Reporting Template: annualised base salary, fixed remuneration and total remuneration.

Our compliance check team reviewed your audit submission and found evidence suggesting your remuneration data may not meet the specification described in the audit guidance and in the Workforce Reporting Template.

There are several reasons why you might be receiving this feedback:

  • You have unusual values in your unit level workforce data (for example – negative or extremely large values).
  • You noted that your remuneration data did not meet the specification in free-text comments.

What happens if I do nothing?

The Commission may exclude some of your audit data from analysis and reporting if you do not take action.

When the Commission develops publications or conducts research on topics that rely on the data in the tables we’ve listed, your organisation’s data may be excluded. We may note that your organisation did not submit suitable data.

How can I resolve this?

To resubmit your audit, please follow the steps described in the ‘Resubmitting your audit’ section of your compliance report.


SI3 – Your unit level workforce data was not de-identified

Column 1 of your unit level workforce data should contain a unique number for each employee. This field should not include anything that could be used to identify employees, such as names or employee ID numbers from HR or payroll systems.

Our compliance check team reviewed your audit submission and found personally identifiable information in this field.

You must resolve this issue and resubmit your audit, or email the Commission if you need to discuss this issue further.

How can I resolve this?

We recommend reviewing the ‘Unit Level Data Specification’ sheet within the Workforce Reporting Template to ensure your resubmitted data is de-identified and meets the specification.

To resubmit your audit, please follow the steps described in the ‘Resubmitting your audit’ section of your compliance report.


SI4 – Your workforce data did not include all employees

The Workplace gender audit guidance provides a definition of ‘employee’ drawn from Section 3 of the Gender Equality Act 2020:

an employee, of a defined entity, means a person employed by the defined entity on a full-time, part-time, casual or fixed term basis (including an apprentice or trainee) but does not include—

(a) a contractor or subcontractor; or

(b) an outworker; or

(c) a person on a vocational placement; or

(d) a student gaining work experience; or

(e) a volunteer.

Our compliance check team reviewed your audit submission and found evidence in your free-text comments suggesting you did not include all employees in your workforce data.

What happens if I do nothing?

The Commission may exclude some of your audit data from analysis and reporting if you do not take action.

When the Commission develops publications or conducts research on topics that rely on the data in the tables we’ve listed, your organisation’s data may be excluded. We may note that your organisation did not submit suitable data.

How can I resolve this?

If you wish to resolve this issue, please review the above advice, then follow the steps described in the ‘Resubmitting your audit’ section of your compliance report.


SI5 – Your unit level workforce data was not reported as at 30 June 2021

Some tables within the Workforce Reporting Template should reflect your organisation as at 30 June 2021. Other tables should reflect data captured across the full reporting period. You can review these requirements in the Workplace gender audit guidance.

Our compliance check team reviewed your audit submission and found evidence in your free-text comments suggesting your unit level workforce data was not reported as at 30 June 2021.

What happens if I do nothing?

The Commission may exclude some of your audit data from analysis and reporting if you do not take action.

When the Commission develops publications or conducts research on topics that rely on the data in the tables we’ve listed, your organisation’s data may be excluded. We may note that your organisation did not submit suitable data.

How can I resolve this?

To resubmit your audit, please follow the steps described in the ‘Resubmitting your audit’ section of your compliance report.


SI6 – You reported all casual employees as receiving no remuneration

The Workplace gender audit guidance describes the three types of remuneration data collected in the Workforce Reporting Template: annualised base salary, fixed remuneration and total remuneration.

The guidance does not include specific advice about how to calculate annualised full-time equivalent remuneration for casual employees. The Commission’s recommendation was to base these calculations on the last pay cycle of the reporting period; however, a range of approaches are acceptable (for example – several organisations used the Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s method for calculating casual remuneration).

Our compliance check team reviewed your audit submission and found evidence in your free-text comments suggesting you did not report remuneration for your casual employees. This may have a significant effect on your organisation’s gender pay gap results.

What happens if I do nothing?

The Commission may exclude some of your audit data from analysis and reporting if you do not take action.

When the Commission develops publications or conducts research on topics that rely on the data in the tables we’ve listed, your organisation’s data may be excluded. We may note that your organisation did not submit suitable data.

How can I resolve this?

To resubmit your audit, please follow the steps described in the ‘Resubmitting your audit’ section of your compliance report.


SI7 – You were unable to assign a level to CEO for some employees and reported them at level 0

Some tables within the Workforce Reporting Template require you to subdivide a group of employees by classification (level to CEO).

The Commission’s recommendation was to use this field to capture reporting levels from the most senior level within your organisation or to work from any existing classification structures within the applicable Enterprise Bargaining Agreements.

Our Workplace gender audit guidance also notes that it is acceptable to use a combination of seniority, level of responsibility, reporting lines and other factors to make this mapping exercise as appropriate for your organisation as possible.

Our compliance check team reviewed your audit submission and found evidence in your free-text comments suggesting you were unable to classify a significant number of employees. You reported these employees as level 0, which is reserved for your organisation’s CEO or equivalent.

What happens if I do nothing?

The Commission may exclude some of your audit data from analysis and reporting if you do not take action.

When the Commission develops publications or conducts research on topics that rely on the data in the tables we’ve listed, your organisation’s data may be excluded. We may note that your organisation did not submit suitable data.

How can I resolve this?

To resubmit your audit, please follow the steps described in the ‘Resubmitting your audit’ section of your compliance report.


SI8 – You assigned the same ANZSCO code to all employees

The Occupational Category field within your unit level workforce data should contain a 6-digit ANZSCO code that corresponds to the employee’s occupation. This field is utilised by Table 7.1 to allow you to analyse occupational segregation within your workforce.

Our compliance check team reviewed your audit submission and found that you assigned the same ANZSCO code to all employees. This means your organisation has not submitted meaningful data on occupational segregation within your workforce.

How can I resolve this?

ANZSCO coding guidance is available from the Victorian Public Sector Commission.

Specific guidance for organisations in the health sector and for local government is also available.

If your organisation is unable to classify its employees using the available guidance, the Commission will accept data using the following simplified classifications:

  • 100000 – Managers
  • 200000 – Professionals
  • 300000 – Technicians and Trades Workers
  • 400000 – Community and Personal Service Workers
  • 500000 – Clerical and Administrative Workers
  • 600000 – Sales Workers
  • 700000 – Machinery Operators and Drivers
  • 800000 – Labourers

After updating your unit level workforce data, remember to re-do template step 3 (Validate your unit level data), step 4 (Populate data measures) and step 7 (Prepare your data for submission) from the ‘START HERE’ sheet.

To resubmit your audit, please follow the steps described in the ‘Resubmitting your audit’ section of your compliance report.


SI9 – Some levels of the ANZSCO occupation hierarchy were missing

Table 7.1 within the Workforce Reporting Template presents the gender balance within occupational groups in your organisation.

Your results are organised as a hierarchy, drawn from the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) standard:

  • Major group (1-digit codes)
  • Sub-major group (2-digit codes)
  • Minor group (3-digit codes)
  • Unit group (4-digit codes)
  • Occupation (6-digit codes)

The Workforce Reporting Template contains functions and formulas to populate this hierarchy automatically from your unit level workforce data. Skipping template steps or modifying formulas can result in missing data within Table 7.1.

There are several reasons why you might be receiving this feedback:

  • You did not complete step 4 (Populate data measures) from the ‘START HERE’ sheet.
  • You completed step 4 (Populate data measures) from the ‘START HERE’ sheet but did not save your work.
  • You inadvertently deleted or modified formulas in Table 7.1.

What happens if I do nothing?

The Commission may exclude some of your audit data from analysis and reporting if you do not take action.

When the Commission develops publications or conducts research on topics that rely on the data in the tables we’ve listed, your organisation’s data may be excluded. We may note that your organisation did not submit suitable data.

How can I resolve this?

If you have inadvertently deleted formulas from an automated data table, you may be able to use the Workforce Reporting Template’s upgrade function to migrate your data into a new copy of the template. Please email the Commission if you need help determining whether this applies to you.

To resubmit your audit, please follow the steps described in the ‘Resubmitting your audit’ section of your compliance report.


TU1 – There was a layout issue with at least one table in your Workforce Reporting Template

Tables in the Workforce Reporting Template were laid out in a specific way, to ensure their contents can be uploaded to our Reporting Platform.

Altering the layout of the table (for example – by inserting or deleting rows) can make it difficult for the Reporting Platform to read your audit submission and interpret it correctly.

Our compliance check team reviewed your audit submission and found one or more parts of your data that have been affected by a table layout problem.

What happens if I do nothing?

The Commission may exclude some of your audit data from analysis and reporting if you do not take action.

When the Commission develops publications or conducts research on topics that rely on the data in the tables we’ve listed, your organisation’s data may be excluded. We may note that your organisation did not submit suitable data.

How can I resolve this?

If you wish to resolve this issue, you will need to transfer your audit data into a new copy of the Workforce Reporting Template, then resubmit. Please email the Commission if you aren’t sure how to do this.

To resubmit your audit, please follow the steps described in the ‘Resubmitting your audit’ section of your compliance report.


TU2 – You used an outdated version of the Workforce Reporting Template

In August 2021, the Commission released a minor update to the Workforce Reporting Template to correct layout problems with Tables 6.3 through 6.6. It appears that you used an outdated version from July 2021.

What happens if I do nothing?

The Commission may exclude some of your audit data from analysis and reporting if you do not take action.

When the Commission develops publications or conducts research on topics that rely on the data in the tables we’ve listed, your organisation’s data may be excluded. We may note that your organisation did not submit suitable data.

How can I resolve this?

If you wish to resolve this issue, you will need to transfer your audit data into a new copy of the Workforce Reporting Template (version 3.2). To assist you, the version 3.2 template includes an upgrade tool to automatically transfer your data from a version 3.0 or 3.1 template. The upgrade tool can be found at step 1 (Tell us about your organisation) in the ‘START HERE’ sheet.

Once you have completed the upgrade, to resubmit your audit, please follow the steps described in the ‘Resubmitting your audit’ section of your compliance report.


TU3 – You may not have validated your unit level data

The Workforce Reporting Template uses a series of functions and formulas to populate some data tables from your unit level workforce data.

One of these functions validates your unit level workforce data (step 3 from the ‘START HERE’ sheet) and alerts you to any potential issues with the data you entered.

Skipping this step means you may have missed important information about your unit level workforce data, which may affect the accuracy of the results calculated in Indicators 1, 3 and 7.

There are several reasons why you might be receiving this feedback:

  • You did not complete template step 3 (Validate your unit level workforce data).
  • You completed template step 3 (Validate your unit level workforce data) but did not save your work.
  • You completed template step 3 (Validate your unit level workforce data) in a different copy of the Workforce Reporting Template than the one you submitted to the Commission.

What happens if I do nothing?

If you don’t resubmit your audit data, the Commission will treat your submitted data as accurate.

How can I resolve this?

The Commission recommends that you re-validate your unit level workforce data (step 3 from the ‘START HERE’ sheet). If no issues are identified, there is no need to resubmit your audit.

If validation identifies an issue you wish to resolve, please correct your unit level workforce data, then follow the steps described in the ‘Resubmitting your audit’ section of your compliance report.


TU4 – You may not have populated the automated tables in your Workforce Reporting Template

The Workforce Reporting Template uses a series of functions and formulas to populate some data tables from your unit level workforce data.

One of these functions populates the automated tables from your unit level workforce data (step 4 from the ‘START HERE’ sheet).

Skipping this step may result in automated tables that do not match your unit level workforce data.

There are several reasons why you might be receiving this feedback:

  • You did not complete template step 4 (Populate data measures).
  • You completed template step 4 (Populate data measures) but did not save your work.
  • You completed template step 4 (Populate data measures) in a different copy of the Workforce Reporting Template than the one you submitted to the Commission.

What happens if I do nothing?

If you don’t resubmit your audit data, the Commission will treat your submitted data as accurate.

How can I resolve this?

The Commission recommends that you compare your unit level workforce data with the automated tables found within Indicators 1, 3 and 7.

If you find a discrepancy, please re-populate the data measures (step 4 from the ‘START HERE’ sheet), then confirm that the discrepancy is resolved.

To resubmit your audit, please follow the steps described in the ‘Resubmitting your audit’ section of your compliance report.

UL1 – At least one automated table is inconsistent with your unit level workforce data

The Workforce Reporting Template uses a series of functions and formulas to populate some data tables from your unit level workforce data.

Completing template steps out of order or modifying formulas in the automated data tables can result in inconsistencies between your unit level workforce data and the results displayed in the automated tables.

It appears that the unit level workforce data you submitted is out of sync with the results displayed in the automated data tables.

There are several reasons why you might be receiving this feedback:

  • You inadvertently deleted or modified formulas in the tables listed in your compliance report.
  • You did not complete step 4 (Populate data measures) from the ‘START HERE’ sheet.
  • You made changes to your unit level workforce data after completing step 4 (Populate data measures) from the ‘START HERE’ sheet.
  • You made changes to your unit level workforce data after completing step 7 (Prepare data for submission) from the ‘START HERE’ sheet.

What happens if I do nothing?

The Commission may exclude some of your audit data from analysis and reporting if you do not take action.

When the Commission develops publications or conducts research on topics that rely on the data in the tables we’ve listed, your organisation’s data may be excluded. We may note that your organisation did not submit suitable data.

How can I resolve this?

If you’ve reviewed your Workforce Reporting Template and found that the listed tables appear consistent with your unit level workforce data, we recommend completing step 7 (Prepare data for submission) from the ‘START HERE’ sheet and resubmitting your audit.

To resubmit your audit, please follow the steps described in the ‘Resubmitting your audit’ section of your compliance report.

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