Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • 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
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • 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
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Equality, diversity and inclusionCareer developmentLatest NewsEthnicity pay gapPay & benefits

Ethnicity pay gap reporting could become mandatory

by Ashleigh Webber 11 Oct 2018
by Ashleigh Webber 11 Oct 2018

Employers may be required to publish their ethnicity pay gap under plans to improve career progression for ethnic minority groups.

Today, Theresa May will announce a series of measures to tackle the barriers that BAME people face in their careers – specifically, the disparities in pay and progression compared with their white colleagues.

Ethnicity pay gap

Greater London Authority publishes 37.5% ethnicity pay gap

Employers need to break recruitment traditions to boost diversity

She will also launch a new Race at Work Charter, which will commit employers to a set of principles that will help improve recruitment and progression for those from ethnic minority backgrounds.

The Race at Work Charter – which has yet to be revealed in detail – has been signed by major employers including NHS England, Standard Life Aberdeen, Norton Rose Fulbright, Lloyds Banking Group, Saatchi & Saatchi, KPMG, RBS, the Civil Service and WPP.

The government has published a consultation looking at whether organisations should be required to disclose how people from different ethnic backgrounds are paid. Some organisations have done so voluntarily, but this information has not been collected centrally by the government and participation has been low.

The consultation, which is open until January 2019, asks employers what type of ethnicity pay information employers should report to allow meaningful action to be taken. Its suggestions include:

  • one pay gap figure comparing average hourly earnings of ethnic minority employees as a percentage of white employees;
  • several pay gap figures for different groups;
  • ethnicity pay information by £20,000 pay band; and
  • ethnicity pay data by pay quartile

It also asks whether employers that identify disparities in how white and BAME people are paid should be required to publish an action plan, setting out the measures they will take to tackle this.

“Every employee deserves the opportunity to progress and fulfil their potential in their chosen field, regardless of which background they are from, but too often ethnic minority employees feel they’re hitting a brick wall when it comes to career progression,” May said.

“That’s why I’m delighted to launch the Race at Work Charter, which gives businesses a clear set of actions to work towards in helping to create greater opportunities for ethnic minority employees at work.

“Our focus is now on making sure the UK’s organisations, boardrooms and senior management teams are truly reflective of the workplaces they manage, and the measures we are taking today will help employers identify the actions needed to create a fairer and more diverse workforce.”

McGregor-Smith Review one year on

According to Business in the Community’s Race at Work 2018: The McGregor-Smith Review one year on report, 52% of BAME employees think they will have to leave their current organisation to progress in their careers, compared with 38% of White British staff.

A quarter of BAME employees have witnessed or experienced racist harassment or bullying from managers in the last two years. A further 19% have seen or experienced such behaviour from customers or service users, up from the 16% in 2015 – the last time the survey was conducted.

The proportion of managers who say they have a performance objective to promote equality at work fell from 41% in 2015 to 32% in 2018. Of those from a BAME background, 38% have been set the task of improving equality, compared with 26% of White British managers.

Peter Cheese, CEO at the CIPD, said the government will need to provide detailed guidance on what employers will need to report on to avoid complications.

He said: “It is also important to remember that ethnicity pay gap reporting will only have a positive effect if it leads to changes in how employees from a minority ethnic background are recruited, managed, developed and promoted.

“This is why there is a need for employers to report on their action plan in response to their ethnicity pay gap data if the proposed new legislation is to act as a game changer.”

Change won’t be immediate

Mary Walker, an employment lawyer at Gordons, said it would be unrealistic to expect changes to be made overnight – much like the progression following the gender pay gap reporting earlier this year.

“The introduction of gender pay reporting for businesses with over 250 employees has, in reality, made little difference in real terms during the short time it has been in place,” she said.

“However, it has been successful in raising the topic and highlighting the differences in pay between men and women, as we have seen in high-profile cases like the BBC.

“We can expect any requirement for ethnicity pay reporting to do a similar thing. This won’t be a short-term fix, but it will provide the information needed to highlight the issue as we strive to achieve a fairer workplace.”

Beverley Sunderland, managing director at Crossland Employment Solicitors, said it was important that ethnicity pay gap reports looked at the diversity of organisations’ senior teams.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

“The younger generation coming into business are very concerned about the diversity of an organisation they are joining and this will allow those businesses with a diverse and inclusive workforce to make this very clear in the figures they are reporting,” she said.

“This in turn will attract top talent to their organisations, who know they can progress irrespective of their sex or ethnic background.”

Ashleigh Webber

Ashleigh is a former editor of OHW+ and former HR and wellbeing editor at Personnel Today. Ashleigh's areas of interest include employee health and wellbeing, equality and inclusion and skills development. She has hosted many webinars for Personnel Today, on topics including employee retention, financial wellbeing and menopause support.

previous post
EU searches for construction and health jobs fall as Brexit fears grow
next post
More than a third of homeworkers suffer back pain

You may also like

Redefining leadership: From competence to inclusion

21 May 2025

Black security manager awarded £360k after decade of...

20 May 2025

Culture, ‘micro-incivilities’ and invisible talent

14 May 2025

Contract cleaner loses EAT race discrimination appeal

14 May 2025

West Yorkshire Police denies positive discrimination accusations

10 Apr 2025

Eight new equality laws in the pipeline

10 Apr 2025

Thames Valley Police ‘positive discrimination’ led to ‘divided...

4 Apr 2025

NHS trust took ‘reasonable steps’ to stop racial...

31 Mar 2025

Mid-sized UK firms slow to improve boardroom ethnic...

11 Mar 2025

Foxtons staff accuse firm of culture of harassment

26 Feb 2025

  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • The Majority of Employees Have Their Eyes on Their Next Move PROMOTED | A staggering 65%...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Self-Leadership: The Key to Successful Organisations PROMOTED | Eletive is helping businesses...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...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 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • 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
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+