Give workers access to colleagues’ pay information, EHRC urges

Workers should have a legal route to obtain pay information that could help expose discrimination, particularly against women, Britain’s equality watchdog has said. The Equality and Human Rights Commission wants employers to be required to answer statutory pay questionnaires so staff can identify possible unequal treatment before pursuing lengthy litigation.

The recommendation forms part of the EHRC’s response to government proposals to overhaul the equal pay framework. In a statement published on 27 October, the regulator welcomed the direction of reform but warned that stronger rules would need sufficient investment and resources to work effectively.

The central issue is whether workers can obtain the information needed to assess a suspected disparity. The EHRC argues that a statutory questionnaire would make a difference only if employers had to respond, rather than leaving employees without answers when they question how their pay compares with that of others.

The watchdog also supports requiring employers to publish salary information in job advertisements. Alongside that measure, it recommends banning questions about applicants’ salary histories or expectations, arguing that recruitment practices should not carry existing inequalities into a new job.

Its position reflects a broader concern about how pay decisions can reproduce earlier disadvantages. In its response, the EHRC pointed to government research indicating that prohibiting questions about previous earnings can prevent past inequalities from being repeated in future pay negotiations.

The government launched its consultation on 14 July, inviting views from businesses, workers, trade unions and civil society. The exercise covers England, Scotland and Wales and seeks changes intended to make the framework work better for employees, employers and the justice system.

Ministers have proposed a phased approach rather than introducing every reform at once. The first phase would improve procedures, transparency and enforcement, while a later phase would broaden protections to address gaps affecting disabled workers, ethnic minority workers and people working under outsourcing arrangements.

The EHRC’s existing guidance already identifies opaque pay and grading systems as a risk for employers. It says transparency means providing enough information for employees and managers to understand how a system operates, and warns that employers may face greater difficulty defending pay practices when those structures are unclear.

Enforcement is another part of the proposed overhaul. The EHRC says a new Equal Pay Regulation and Enforcement Unit could improve compliance if properly implemented, and argues that its expertise makes it the appropriate organisation to host the unit, provided additional funding is supplied.

The recommendations are consultation proposals, not an announcement that workers have acquired a new right to inspect colleagues’ salaries. The government says responses will inform its next steps, while the regulator’s position is that access to information and adequately funded enforcement must accompany any changes to the law.