On 18 March 2025, the Office for Equality and Opportunity issued Consultation: Equality (Race and Disability) Bill – Mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting seeking views on how to introduce mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for employers with 250 or more employees (Written Statement). Consultation responses will help to shape the draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, which the government committed to introducing in the King's Speech 2024 (see FC Feature 17 July 2024). The government also announced the establishment of a Race Equality Engagement Group to help develop further measures to tackle race inequality (OEO Press Release). Comments on the consultation are due by 10 June 2025.
The consultation notes the government's aim to use a reporting framework for ethnicity and disability similar to the one already in place for gender pay gap reporting, although it outlines data collection and analysis considerations distinct to ethnicity and disability. It also seeks views on other factors relevant to a proposed reporting framework, including whether employers should be required to produce action plans for ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting.
The government plans to publish a separate call for evidence seeking views on how to make the right to equal pay effective for ethnic minority and disabled people as well as in respect of other areas of equality law.
Also on 18 March 2025, the Business Disability Forum published Report: Towards meaningful disability workforce and pay gap reporting – The challenges and unintended consequences setting out qualitative research findings on disability pay gap reporting as well as recommendations to government (BDF Press Release).
For information on the existing gender pay gap reporting framework, see Gender pay gap reporting, and for existing sex-based equal pay protections see Equal pay.
First published on the Employment News Service on 18 March 2025.
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