I was very pleased to see a piece in the Guardian Newspaper today, announcing that Business, Unions and EHRC press the government on Ethnicity Pay Gap reporting. In the article it states that the UK’s biggest business lobby group the TUC, and human rights watch dog expressed the importance of data gathering to help tackle racial inequalities.
The article goes on to say in a letter to the cabinet minister, Micheal Gove “We’re asking the government to make it mandatory for employers to report on their ethnicity pay gaps, building on the successful framework already in place for gender,” the letter said. “Reporting, done well, can provide a real foundation to better understand and address the factors contributing to pay disparities.”
I also noted that the article mentioned some companies that have already reported their Ethnicity Pay Gap and concludes that more would be achieved with mandatory reporting. It was also refreshing to see that they also mention the need for clear action plans to tackle the disparities.
As mentioned above it was indeed pleasing to see this article however, there was a glaring omission in my opinion. I am the founder of the #EthnicityPayGap Campaign. It has been in existence for 3 years, the campaign has lobbied government, worked with organisations such as Fawcett Society to bring this issue up the media food chain and also to raise awareness and hold the government to account. I created the Ethnicity Pay Gap Day (8th January 2021) to promote a call to action, which was a successful Day. I am sure it was not intentional but, I do feel this article diminishes the work that I and many others have put in to raise awareness of this issue. If they could mention the companies that have reported, they could have mentioned the campaign.
For change to happen we much all play a part, join the campaign, lobby your MP and make the Ethnicity Pay Gap a thing of the past.
Join Us; https://www.ethnicitypaygapcampaign.com