It’s been a few years now since the introduction of mandatory gender pay gap reporting for private sector employers with 250 employees or more. So has the time come for employers to adopt a similar approach in relation to the ethnicity pay gap?

Is there the political will?

Over recent months, considerable attention has once again been focused on the level of racial inequality that exists within the modern world. Of course, the next question is ‘what should we be doing about it?’ The potential solutions will need to be many and varied. However, over 100,000 people have signed a petition calling for mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting. As a result, the idea should now be debated in parliament.

It’s fair to say that the proposal is not a new one. Baroness McGregor-Smith, a government advisor, recommended the introduction of ethnicity pay gap reporting when she was asked to consider such issues back in 2017. The government’s subsequent consultation exercise closed well over a year ago, yet no results have so far been published. Baroness McGregor-Smith has recently renewed her calls for legislation in this area, so maybe the time is right for measures of this nature to be brought into force.

What do you think?

What are your thoughts on this initiative? Have you had to report your gender pay gap? Has it made a positive difference to the way in which your business approaches its remuneration strategy? Could ethnicity pay gap reporting make the world of work a fairer place? We’d be interested to hear your thoughts.