Key takeaways
Protections extended beyond sex discrimination
Equal pay framework will be expanded to cover race and disability claims.
Stronger equal pay enforcement and tribunal powers
New regulator could compel evidence disclosure and require audits.
Pay equality for outsourced workers
Outsourcing cannot be used to offer less favourable terms for discriminatory reasons.
The government recently published a consultation on reform of the equal pay and pay discrimination framework in Great Britain, citing systemic failings in the current legal framework that places the burden of enforcement too heavily on individuals. The consultation proposes a two-phased approach to reform.
Phase 1: improving the current system
The government’s proposals to improve the current system include:
requiring all employers to publish pay information in job adverts, or to provide it in writing to candidates before interview where there is no advert
reducing the exceptions to the rule under which an employment tribunal must order an equal pay audit after finding an equal pay breach, and mandating that a tribunal also order the implementation of a non-discriminatory job evaluation scheme
reinstating an optional statutory questionnaire procedure for pay discrimination disputes only
establishing an Equal Pay Regulatory and Enforcement Unit, with a remit covering pay discrimination relating to sex, race and disability and powers to compel evidence disclosure before a formal investigation and to require equal pay audits and
launching formal reviews of the rules of procedure for pay discrimination claims and the operation of the independent panel of experts, with a focus on equal value claims.
Phase 2: broadening existing protections
The government proposes to broaden existing protections include:
enabling employment tribunals to modify discriminatory contractual terms where pay discrimination on the basis of race or disability is found
extending equal pay audit and job evaluation requirements to such cases
allowing race and disability claims where the comparator's work is rated as equivalent or of equal value
introducing a new duty on all parties to outsourcing arrangements to take all reasonable steps to uphold pay equality, so that outsourced workers are not given less favourable terms for reasons that discriminate based on sex, race or disability and
allowing employment tribunals to grant extensions to allow a case to be presented out of time where it is just and equitable to do so.
The consultation closes on 27 October 2026.
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