New government guidance: Voluntary reporting on ethnicity pay gaps in the workplace
25th April, 2023
The Government has, on 17 April 2023, released guidance to help those employers who wish to measure and report on ethnicity pay gaps in their organisations.
Since 2017 employers with more than 250 employees have had an obligation to report on their gender pay. Unlike gender pay reporting there is currently no legislative requirement for employers to measure and report on ethnicity pay. However, the Government are attempting to support employers to collate and gather this information in the hope that it will encourage organisations to identify and investigate disparities between the renumeration afforded to different ethnic groups.
Statistics from the Office for National Statistics show that, on average, some ethnic minority groups are taking home less earnings than their white British counterparts.
The Government guidance on Ethnic Pay Reporting, which can be accessed here, aims to develop a consistent approach to ethnic pay reporting in the workplace. It assists employers through the process of collecting and preparing the data so that relevant calculations can be made, and analysing and reporting on the results.
Ethnicity pay gap reporting does carry challenges for employers who wish to step up and understand and address any ethnicity pay gap.
We at Ward Hadaway have extensive experience in gender pay gap reporting (where similar principles apply), and equal pay audits, and we can support employers through the tricky issues including:
- Identification of the appropriate data sets to ensure reliability of results
- Maintenance of confidentiality
- Appropriate analysis and reporting
- Designing bespoke employer action plans where appropriate
If you would like guidance or support on pay gap reporting do not hesitate to get in touch with one of our specialist Employment lawyers.
Please note that this briefing is designed to be informative, not advisory and represents our understanding of English law and practice as at the date indicated. We would always recommend that you should seek specific guidance on any particular legal issue.
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