Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • Maternity & Paternity
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • Maternity & Paternity
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

General Data Protection RegulationIndirect discriminationEthnicityEthnicity pay gapLatest News

Employers lack data needed to analyse ethnicity pay gap

by Ashleigh Webber 21 Mar 2019
by Ashleigh Webber 21 Mar 2019

Ninety-five per cent of employers have not analysed their ethnicity pay gap, with many lacking the data that will enable them to do so.

A survey of 80 organisations by PwC found that concerns around the legality of collecting ethnicity data, poor response rates from employees and ensuring employee anonymity were among the most common barriers to publishing ethnicity pay data.

Ethnicity pay gap reporting

Ethnicity pay gap reporting: What employers need to know

Leading businesses sign up for ethnicity pay gap pledge

Greater London Authority publishes 37.5% ethnicity pay gap

Although not a legal requirement, the government and campaigners such as INvolve have encouraged employers to voluntarily disclose pay data based on ethnicity, as they do with gender pay data.

The survey found three-quarters of organisations lack the data needed to analyse their ethnicity pay gap, while 40% had not collected data because of concerns around GDPR and other legal restrictions.

PwC’s report, Taking the right approach to ethnicity pay gap reporting, warns that a significant data collection exercise is needed to enable firms to analyse their ethnicity pay gap, but this also requires understanding of GDPR and other regulations.

Prateek Kumar, senior manager, HR technology, at PwC, said complexity in data collection arises from generating trust from employees, not the process of gathering the data itself.

“Specifically, you will need to ensure they trust the data they provide is confidential and cannot be accessed by their direct teams and managers. Getting this access hierarchy right and communicating it effectively is critical,” he said.

Employers are also worried about how HR systems and processes would be affected by the data collection exercise, as well as how they could communicate the business need for the data to their staff.

Organisations that had attempted to collect data on ethnicity report low survey response rates from staff. Although employers cannot require staff to disclose this information, PwC suggests that organisations should encourage them to do so by providing telling them how and why data is being collected and what it will be used for.

Employers could face claims of both direct and indirect discrimination if pay disparities are identified, so they should develop an action plan to address any imbalances, it proposes.

Katy Bennett, diversity and inclusion consulting director at PwC, said: “No organisation or workforce should tolerate a lack of diversity. Understanding and addressing this issue is important culturally and ethically. But it is also critical to success. Diverse workforces, with diversity of experiences, insights and perspectives make better decisions and deliver better results.”

The report recommends that organisations that wish to voluntarily report their data should:

  • define an approach to ethnicity pay gap reporting that incorporates the value of getting it right, sets  milestones, engages all relevant stakeholders and considers how to implement change based on the findings;
  • plan for data collection by understanding legal and GDPR restrictions, assessing the effectiveness and functionality of HR systems, identifying the method of data collection and communicating the process to staff;
  • define how they will calculate pay gaps if the government’s reporting criteria are not yet agreed. A consultation on whether reporting should be made mandatory ran until January;
  • implement an action plan to reduce pay gaps and consider how data collection will be refined in future; and
  • communicate and engage with staff and external parties and define when the data will be released.
Ashleigh Webber
Ashleigh Webber

Ashleigh is editor at OHW+ and part of the Personnel Today editorial team. Prior to joining Personnel Today in 2018, she covered the road transport sector for Commercial Motor and Motor Transport.

previous post
Business leaders’ top concern is moving to a hybrid AI-human workforce
next post
One in six endometriosis sufferers gives up work

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

You may also like

Ethnicity pay gaps: Not making reporting mandatory is...

16 May 2022

Avoid salary history questions in recruitment, guide urges

29 Apr 2022

Ethnicity pay gap reporting will not be mandatory

17 Mar 2022

Introduce ethnicity pay gap reporting by April 2023,...

8 Feb 2022

Trends for 2022: the Gartner view – employee...

27 Jan 2022

Baroness McGregor-Smith becomes CIPD president

25 Jan 2022

Campaigners reveal ‘glacial’ pace of change in women’s...

21 Jan 2022

Ethnicity pay gaps persist but young people are...

7 Dec 2021

Just one in three managers taking action on...

22 Nov 2021

Ethnicity pay gap: Lords debate mandatory reporting

28 Oct 2021
  • Apprenticeships are the solution to your recruitment problems PROMOTED | Apprenticeships have the pulling power...Read more
  • What it really means to be mentally fit PROMOTED | What is mental fitness...Read more
  • How music can help to ease anxiety at work PROMOTED | A lot has happened since March 2020, hasn’t it?...Read more
  • Why now is the time to plug the unhealthy gap PROMOTED | We’ve all heard the term ‘health is wealth’...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • Maternity & Paternity
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+