No timeline for equal pay based on ethnicity and disability

The equalities minister has confirmed there is still no timeline for when the right to equal pay for ethnic minorities and disabled people will be enshrined into law, as promised in Labour's election manifesto.

The draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill was included in the King's Speech and was expected to be brought forward in the current parliamentary session, which is likely to end in May.

At present, sex discrimination claims about pay are predominantly brought as equal pay claims, while race and disability discrimination claims do not have this option. Accordingly, there are far fewer cases. This discrepancy suggests equal pay laws offer stronger redress than is available for pay discrimination because of ethnicity or disability.

Equalities minister Seema Malhotra confirmed yesterday in parliament that the government was "committed" to its pledge and a plan will be coming "soon", after she was pressed by MPs of the Race Equality Engagement Group, but did not give any dates.

She said ministers remained "committed to our manifesto commitment and to making the right to equal pay effective for ethnic minority people.

"We are also introducing mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting for large employers. Last year, we published a call for evidence on equality policy, which closed last summer. We are working to analyse the responses and will update the House on our plans soon."

Malhotra was responding to Labour former minister and Lewisham East MP Janet Daby, who said that many of her "hard-working constituents are not being paid fairly" and asked "when this welcomed manifesto commitment will be met".

"The latest ONS figures show the median adjusted pay gap for UK-born black African, Caribbean, or black British employees is 5.6% lower compared with UK-born white employees," Daby added.

The proposed legislation would also introduce mandatory ethnicity and disability pay reporting.

Malhotra added: "Last year, we published a call for evidence on equality policy, which closed last summer.

"We are working to analyse the responses and will update the House on our plan soon."

The SNP's Kirsty Blackman also pressed the minister, saying: "It is 316 days since the minister announced that consultation. It is 560 days since the King's Speech, when the draft legislation was announced."

Malhotra responded that ministers were "moving forward" with their plans.

Rena Magdani, partner and national head of employment at Freeths, pointed out that some businesses were not waiting for government action on the issue: "While the passage of legislation in this area may seem slow, some employers are being proactive in this area by collating and in some cases, publishing, data about their ethnicity and disability pay gaps and setting out actions they are taking to close the gap."

Last week, in a significant Employment Appeals Tribunal case, a group of cleaners employed at Great Ormond Street Hospital, of mainly ethnic minority backgrounds, succeeded in their legal challenge against the NHS Trust over discriminatory pay and treatment.

The cleaners brought claims for indirect racial discrimination, arguing the trust's approach to outsourcing and to the treatment of cleaners after the transfer placed workers from ethnic minority backgrounds at a disadvantage compared with predominantly white directly employed staff.