Enhanced accountability? Assessing the amendments to gender pay gap reporting in the Employment Rights Bill

In the lead-up to the election, then Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves pledged that Labour would eliminate the gender pay gap (GPG) “once and for all”. This ambitious promise is to be achieved in part by amendments to the Gender Pay Gap Information Regulations (‘the Regulations’), which since 2017 have required employers with 250+ employees to annually report their GPG, gender proportions across pay quartiles, bonus pay gap and proportions of men and women receiving bonuses. This data was intended to help employers understand the causes of their GPG and, through public access to the data, incentivise action to address those causes. However, limitations in the Regulations’ design have undermined the impact of reporting. Notably, employers are not obliged to take remedial action on the basis of reported data, and the exclusion of outsourced workers from reporting enables employers to exploit cheaper labour while concealing the gendered impact of this practice.

Part 2 of the Employment Rights Bill 2024 introduces two key amendments aimed at addressing these shortcomings. First, it grants the power to mandate that employers develop and publish equality action plans, outlining the steps they are taking to address the GPG and to support employees experiencing the menopause. Second, it requires employers to include outsourced workers in their GPG reports.

This paper examines these amendments to assess their potential to enhance GPG reporting and drive meaningful change. It argues that, while these measures represent significant progress by closing loopholes that have allowed employers to evade accountability, critical challenges remain. Key questions include how to ensure employers genuinely identify the causes of their GPG and commit to evidence-based actions to target those causes, and whether the Equality and Human Rights Commission – hindered thus far in its enforcement efforts – can be equipped to provide effective oversight and hold noncompliant employers accountable.