UK: Government call for evidence on proposed reforms to equal pay and discrimination law, pay transparency and steps to prevent sexual harassment

The Government has published a call for evidence to inform possible equality law reforms to be included in the promised Equality (Race and Disability) Bill.  This follows on from the consultation on disability and ethnicity pay gap reporting proposals published last month (see here).

The proposals being considered, on which views are sought, include:

• making the right to equal pay effective for ethnic minority and disabled people, potentially by extending the existing equal pay regime to cover these characteristics;  the Government is "giving particular attention" to whether the procedural rules and the use of job evaluation schemes could be simplified, or adjusted if needed, to reflect new claim types;  it is also considering the efficacy of the current employment tribunal power to order an equal pay audit where an employer has committed an equal pay breach, whether penalties for failure to carry out an audit should be increased and whether the power should be extended to cover race and disability pay discrimination cases; 
• ensuring outsourcing of services cannot be used to avoid equal pay, potentially by allowing 'outsourced workers' to bring equal pay claims comparing their pay with that of 'in house' employees where they work;  the Government recognises the need to consider the scope of such protections carefully in light of complex labour supply chains and also asks whether liability for claims should lie with the direct employer, the client, or shared liability;
• improving the enforcement of equal pay rights by establishing a new Equal Pay Regulatory and Enforcement Unit, "with the involvement of trade unions" (no details of this involvement are given);  
• improving pay transparency - the measures suggested (which will be familiar to employers in scope of the EU Pay Transparency Directive, due to be implemented by Member States by June 2026) include requiring employers to:
  • provide salary ranges in job adverts or prior to interview,
  • not question job candidates about their salary history,
  • provide employees with information on pay, pay structures, criteria for progression, their own pay level and how this compares with those doing work of equal value, and
  • identify actions they need to take to avoid equal pay breaches;   
• strengthening protection from combined discrimination (ie, discrimination based on a combination of protected characteristics) by commencing the dual direct discrimination provisions in the Equality Act and extending their scope to cover indirect discrimination, harassment, victimisation and the protected characteristics of maternity/pregnancy and marriage/civil partnership;  
• drafting regulations (under the Employment Rights Bill) to specify steps employers should take to prevent sexual harassment, to include only such steps as have a clear evidence base supporting their efficacy - the Government is seeking views as to whether there is evidence of effective steps and where work to strengthen the evidence base should be prioritised;
• extending protection against sexual harassment to volunteers.  

Views are also sought on the extent to which the public sector equality duty is complied with by non-public bodies exercising public functions and the effectiveness of the implementation of the socio-economic duty in Scotland and Wales, with a view to commencing the duty in England.

The impact of these changes could be significant for employers;  those seeking to influence the final proposals should respond to the call for evidence by 30 June 2025.