Change the Race Ratio has submitted its response to the Government’s consultation on Equal Pay and Discrimination, drawing on the experiences and insights of our members.
We welcome the Government’s recognition that the current pay discrimination framework requires modernisation and broadly support proposals to strengthen equal pay protections and introduce greater pay transparency. Our response outlines several key recommendations:
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Greater pay transparency: We support proposals to increase pay transparency, including publishing salary information in job advertisements. However, new requirements should avoid unnecessary duplication and administrative burdens.
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Clear guidance for employers: Any new legislation should be proportionate and accompanied by practical guidance on reporting requirements to ensure businesses can implement the changes effectively.
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Extending equal pay protections: We support extending equal pay protections to ethnicity and disability. However, practical challenges around workforce data, disclosure rates and employee anonymity must be addressed. We therefore support the Government’s proposed phased approach.
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Prioritising Ethnicity Pay Gap reporting: Equal pay law and mandatory EPG reporting work best together. Therefore, we recommend introducing mandatory reporting before extending equal pay protections. This would also give businesses sufficient time to improve workforce data and ethnicity disclosure rates ahead of the new requirements.
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Turning transparency into action: Reporting alone will not close ethnicity pay gaps. Businesses should use workforce data to identify barriers to progression, improve representation and develop meaningful race action plans that deliver measurable progress.
We will continue to work with our members and the Government to ensure that the proposed reforms are practical, proportionate and effective in creating fairer and more inclusive workplaces.
Read our full consultation response here.
