What is new?
Under the proposed Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, employers with 250 or more employees will be legally required to publish:
- Ethnicity and disability pay gaps (mean and median hourly pay).
- Bonus differentials.
- Proportion of employees receiving bonuses.
- Workforce composition by ethnicity and disability.
This marks a significant evolution from gender pay gap reporting (in force since 2017) and will require new data handling strategies.
What does the consultation cover?
Running until 10th June 2025, the consultation covers:
- Aligning ethnicity/disability reporting with gender pay methodology.
- Self-disclosure as the primary data source.
- Privacy protections via minimum cohort thresholds (10 or more).
- Encouraging publication of action plans.
What are the challenges?
Data collection
- Ethnicity and disability data are sensitive (‘special category’) under the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).
- Disclosure is voluntary and often patchy.
- There is no standard framework for classifying disability.
Compliance with GDPR
- Employers must be transparent, secure, and proportionate.
- Explicit consent is not required if data are anonymised, but clarity and trust are vital.
Meaningful reporting
- Binary reporting (for example, ‘White or non-White’) can obscure disparities.
- Yet, detailed breakdowns risk small cohort privacy breaches.
What should you do?
- Build a culture of trust and explain how data support inclusion.
- Design opt-in mechanisms that reassure and encourage.
- Engage data privacy experts to align HR systems with GDPR.
- Draft early versions of your action plan and link gaps to realistic goals.
