The government will debate the petition on 20 September, 2021 after a petition calling for the action garnered over 130,000 signatures.
The government is set to debate the prospect of introducing mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting, after a petition calling for it garnered 130,567 signatures.
Similar to the gender pay gap reporting measures which is a mandatory requirement for employers with 250 or more employees to publish their gender pay gap, the petition called on the government to introduce a measure specifically focused on ethnicity pay gaps.
The petition shared that it would help “shine a light on race/ethnicity-based inequality in the workplace so that they can be addressed”.
It added that the lack of data available meant that it was difficult to understand the true size of the ethnicity pay gap.
Now it has been announced that parliament will debate the petition on 20 September, 2021.
The government previously ran a consultation from October 2018 to January 2019 on the introduction of mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting.
In a response, the government said in July 2020 that it was “currently analysing these and will respond by the end of the year”.
“Building a fairer economy means ensuring the UK’s organisations reflect the nation’s diversity – from factory floor to boardroom. We are committed to working closely with the business community to consider the steps that can be taken to build more inclusive workplaces, including reporting on diversity,” it added.
“Following the consultation, government met with businesses and representative organisations to understand the barriers to reporting and explore what information could be published to allow for meaningful action to be taken.”