Ministers are facing pressure to introduce legal safeguards for whistleblowers who report breaches of upcoming workplace diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) legislation.
The call comes days after the announcement that NDA agreements will be made void in case of workplace harassment and discrimination, and follows the government’s announcement of the forthcoming Equality (Race and Disability) Bill.
The bill, which the equalities minister Seema Malhotra has described as part of the government’s “absolute” commitment to DEI, aims to increase transparency and accountability around pay equity and is expected to be published later this year. It would require employers with more than 250 staff to publish ethnicity and disability pay gap data, similar to existing gender pay gap reporting obligations. A new regulatory and enforcement body would also be created to address pay discrimination.
Concerns about transparency and enforcement
In its submission to the consultation on the proposed legislation, which closed in June, the Black Equity Organisation (BEO) argued that whistleblower protections must be built into the framework to ensure workers can safely raise concerns.
“Support for whistleblowers is also essential,” the BEO said, calling for “a confidential channel for employees who report concerns to ensure they are not penalised”.
The BEO added that employers who fail to meet their obligations under the new regime should be named in public notices. The organisation also urged the government to require more detailed breakdowns in published data to reflect different experiences among minority ethnic groups. It further called for mandatory pay gap reporting to apply to companies with more than 50 staff, a position also supported by the Trades Union Congress.
The bill is also expected to introduce requirements for employers to publish action plans detailing how they intend to address disparities in pay between white and non-disabled employees and their Black, minority ethnic and disabled colleagues.
The case for extending transparency to ethnicity and disability
Nick Henderson-Mayo, Head of Compliance at eLearning and DEI solution provider VinciWorks, told HR review, “Large UK organisations have been reporting the gender pay gap for years. It’s helped to highlight inequalities and bring more money into women’s pockets – people who have been systematically underpaid for generations.
“Extending pay gap reporting to ethnicity and disability could bring the same clarity and more money into people’s pay packets,” Henderson-Mayo added. “Pay gap reporting uncovers inequalities that are often unconscious, but no less damaging, across large workforces.”
He added, “Why does the average disabled person take home less? Why might someone from one ethnicity be paid more than one from another? The causes aren’t always malicious, but they’re real, and reporting forces organisations to explain them.”
Henderson-Mayo drew a comparison between the UK and the US, noting that in the United States, pay transparency has benefited from civil rights laws, union protections, class action mechanisms and stronger litigation rights. In contrast, the UK lacks equivalent routes for redress, making regulatory reform critical for workers experiencing discrimination.
Legislation seen as a turning point for DEI credibility
With employer DEI initiatives under increasing scrutiny, the proposed legislation may also help focus corporate efforts on measurable outcomes. “At a time when ‘DEI’ units in companies are under pressure to prove their value and purpose, focusing on pay gap transparency could be a very effective vehicle,” Henderson-Mayo said.
“One of the reasons ‘DEI’ as a concept has received so much criticism on both sides of the Atlantic is that, for many, their focus is on the wrong thing. ‘DEI’ has been criticised for focusing on microaggressions instead of money and pronouns instead of promotions. Crucially, ‘DEI’ comes from the board down, not the worker up. And workers – at the end of the day – want and deserve better pay.
“Pay gaps, whether based on ethnicity, sex or disability, take money out of workers’ pockets for illegal reasons. Workers need tools to challenge this kind of discrimination. The UK’s consultation on pay gap legislation should be a watershed moment. This can put power back in the hands of workers to challenge unlawful discrimination with evidence, not just anecdotes.”
The government has yet to confirm a timetable for publication of the full bill or how it plans to respond to the consultation submissions.
