'Right direction' | Equal pay reforms could force firms to post salary information in job adverts

The Government has launched a 15-week consultation on reforming the UK’s equal pay system, with proposals covering salary transparency, tribunal processes, enforcement powers and protections for ethnic minority and disabled workers.

Ministers said findings from a call for evidence on equality law showed that the existing framework had become too complicated, costly and slow. Thousands of claims are reportedly caught in a system where proceedings can take years, and sometimes decades, to resolve.

Businesses, public bodies, trade unions and civil society organisations are being invited to help shape the reforms, which could have significant implications for recruitment, pay structures and outsourcing arrangements.

Consultation targets delays and pay discrimination

The first phase will consider measures to increase transparency around pay, reform the process for discrimination claims and establish a new Equal Pay Regulation and Enforcement Unit, potentially with strengthened enforcement powers.