Response to the Women and Equalities Committee’s report on ethnicity pay gap reporting

Commenting on the Women and Equalities Committee findings calling for mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting to be introduced by April 2023, Sandra Kerr, Race Equality Director at Business in the Community said,

“It’s great that the Women and Equalities Committee has recommended that the Government introduce mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting by April 2023. Business in the Community has been campaigning for ethnicity pay gap reporting to be made mandatory for a number of years and we know that businesses are ready and waiting for the Government to write this requirement into legislation.

“We must be very clear though that reporting this data isn’t the sole answer to solving the inequalities that have been plaguing the UK’s workforce for far too long. Once the data is publicly reported this doesn’t mean that we down tools and the work is done. Mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting is just the first step. The calls for employers to be legally required to publish narratives and action plans beside the data is just as important as the data itself. By employers being required to do this, it will ensure that they publicly outline how they plan to address any inequalities facing current and future employees in their work force.”