The Equality and Human Rights Commission has called for expanded pay transparency measures in British workplaces as part of government efforts to reform equal pay legislation. The watchdog’s recommendations would establish a formal legal entitlement for employees to request information about colleagues’ compensation when they suspect discriminatory pay practices.
Under the proposed framework, workers could request details including annual salary, hours worked, bonuses, overtime payments, and job descriptions of colleagues performing similar roles. The recommendations further suggest employees should have access to job evaluation records, internal salary benchmarks, job grades, and comparative pay rankings within similar teams. The EHRC emphasized that employers must be required to respond within a specified timeframe to prevent delays or evasive responses that could undermine transparency efforts.
The watchdog also advocated for restrictions on employer practices during recruitment, recommending that companies be prohibited from requesting information about applicants’ salary histories or pay expectations. This measure would complement the pay transparency requirements and reduce opportunities for historical pay discrimination to influence new hires’ compensation.
The recommendations emerge as the government considers reinstating questionnaire rights that were eliminated in 2014 as part of deregulation efforts. The EHRC argued that mandatory rather than optional measures are necessary to achieve effective transparency and reduce employment disputes.
According to Office for National Statistics data from April this year, women in full-time UK employment earned a median of 6.8% less than men. The gap widens significantly in certain sectors, with the finance industry experiencing mean and median pay gaps of 24% and 22% respectively—double the national company average. The EHRC suggested that enhanced transparency mechanisms could facilitate earlier resolution of pay disputes and help narrow gender pay differences across the economy.
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