Home / Sources / Select Committees / Women and Equalities Committee / Ethnicity Pay Gap reporting: One-off
Select committee: Women and Equalities Committee

Ethnicity Pay Gap reporting: One-off

Closed Opened 15 Dec 2021 Closed 1 May 2024 1 recommendation 1 conclusion

Women and Equalities Committee Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗

Where it stands

The inquiry is closed, opened 15 December 2021.

The committee has published 1 report, most recently Fourth report - Ethnicity pay gap reporting on 8 February 2022.

The government's response

Published 13 May 2022. The deadline was 8 April 2022.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The Government does not accept the Committee's call for mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting, saying it "will not be legislating for mandatory reporting" and will instead provide guidance for employers who choose to report.

  • It has accepted the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities' recommendation that ethnicity pay gaps "should continue to be reported on a voluntary basis".
  • Its stated reasons are that reporting is "just one type of tool" that "may not be the most appropriate tool for every type of employer", and that it does not want to impose new reporting burdens on businesses.
  • The guidance will cover data protection issues and methods for capturing, analysing and reporting ethnicity pay data, as the Committee recommended, and will support employers to produce a diagnosis and action plan.
  • The Government says it "committed in 'Inclusive Britain' to publish the guidance in Summer 2022" and will publish its analysis of the 2018 consultation responses "in due course".

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error

Recommendations and conclusions

All 2 recommendations and conclusions

Reports

All reports

Evidence

  • 1 oral evidence sessionLatest 12 January 2022
  • 4 witnesses
All evidence

Recent activity

Recommendations and conclusions 2 shown

Conclusion 1

Conclusion · Fourth report - Ethnicity pay gap reporting · Addressed to Government Equalities Office

Concluded (the committee's words)
The Government has acknowledged that ethnicity pay gap reporting should be mandatory. Businesses are ready for Ministers to follow through on this commitment and bring forward legislation. We recognise that capturing and reporting ethnicity pay gap data is a more complex exercise than for gender, especially given disproportionate sample sizes of ethnicity across the UK. Solutions are available as long as employers are willing, and the purpose of the exercise is clear. Ethnicity pay gap reporting is not about producing a league table or punishing organisations who, due to geographic location, may not have access to the same talent pool. A pay gap is an indicator for employers to identify, understand and address trends in ethnic disparities across their own workforce.

Link to this item · Read this item

Recommendation 2

Recommendation · Fourth report - Ethnicity pay gap reporting · Addressed to Government Equalities Office

Recommended (the committee's words)
The Government should introduce mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting by April 2023 for all organisations that currently report for gender. Legislation should include the requirement for employers to publish a supporting narrative and action plan. The Government should produce guidance, with clear explanations on: (a) data protection to reassure employers how they can legally capture, retain and report ethnicity pay gap data; (b) methods for capturing, analysing and reporting ethnicity pay data; and (c) the body responsible for enforcement and what powers that body will have.

Link to this item · Read this item

Reports

1 report

Oral evidence sessions

1 session

On smaller screens, scroll horizontally to read every column. Keyboard users can focus the table region and use the arrow keys.

Date Session and witnesses Source
12 Jan 2022
Oral evidence session
Charles Cotton · Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, Matthew Percival · Confederation of British Industry, Sandra Kerr CBE · Business in the Community, Wilf Sullivan · Trades Union Congress (TUC) 		View ↗

Who gave evidence

4 witnesses

On smaller screens, scroll horizontally to read every column. Keyboard users can focus the table region and use the arrow keys.

WitnessOrganisationSessions
Charles Cotton · Senior Performance and Reward Adviser Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development 1
Matthew Percival · Director for People and Skills Confederation of British Industry 1
Sandra Kerr CBE · Race Director Business in the Community 1
Wilf Sullivan · Equality Officer Trades Union Congress (TUC) 1

Correspondence

2 letters

On smaller screens, scroll horizontally to read every column. Keyboard users can focus the table region and use the arrow keys.

PublishedDirectionLetter
10 Jan 2022 Not recorded Correspondence to the Chair from the Minister for Small Business, Consumers & Labour Markets relating to our one-off session into Ethnicity pay gap reporting
15 Dec 2021 Not recorded Correspondence to the Chair from Baroness Falkner relating to Equality Impact Assessments and Pay Gap Reporting