First special report - Ethnicity pay gap reporting: Government response to the Committee’s fourth report of session 2021-22

This is the government's response, published 13 May 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