Equality and Human Rights Commission proposes pay transparency right

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has proposed giving workers a legal right to demand details of their colleagues' salaries and bonuses, according to a report on the front page of The Times. The proposal is meant to help close the gender pay gap, which the coverage put at nearly 7%, with women on average paid about 6.8% less than men.

The plan would not necessarily mean every employee could see named salaries. Coverage noted that staff could submit a questionnaire and receive some pay data instead. Similar pay disclosure arrangements existed until 2014, when they were scrapped, and public sector workers can already have their pay bands published, with names linked to salary brackets.

The proposal opened a wider argument about fairness. The case for action was put on the grounds that the gap persists half a century after Barbara Castle's Equal Pay Act. Critics said it risked pushing towards parity rather than equality of opportunity, and argued that pay differences can reflect market shortages, individual negotiation, risk, difficult conditions and demand, as well as the different jobs men and women choose. There were also concerns that bosses could respond by cutting higher earners' pay or that the issue should not be handled by government. The proposal itself came from the equality watchdog, rather than from ministers.