The Equal Rights Trust and the University of Birmingham have been commissioned by the UK Office for Equality & Opportunity to undertake research on how to strengthen the law on equal pay and pay discrimination. We are seeking evidence and inputs from those working with the law in this area.

The government of the United Kingdom has committed to strengthening equal pay and ending pay discrimination, including through the adoption of a new Equality (Race and Disability) Bill. This research has been commissioned to inform the development of the planned legislation. In parallel with our research, a separate team is undertaking research with those with lived experience of pay discrimination on the basis of sex, race and disability. The findings of that research will be integrated into our final report. 

Alongside this research, the government has launched a public consultation with specific questions on pay gap reporting which is aimed at those most affected, including employers, public sector bodies and groups exposed to discrimination on the basis of race and disability.

As part of the research, we are issuing this call for inputs. We are keen to hear from academics, lawyers, civil society organisations, trade unions, independent equality bodies and others with an interest in strengthening the law in this area.

We are seeking evidence and inputs in particular on three topics: (1) patterns of pay discrimination, in particular on grounds of sex, race and disability; (2) barriers preventing access to justice and remedy, and good practice approaches for overcoming these; and (3) good practice models and approaches on compliance, enforcement and sanction.

Our research is multi-disciplinary, participatory and comparative. We are keen to hear from stakeholders both within the UK and beyond. We’re also seeking inputs from those working in different areas of equality law and in other fields of law altogether – in particular on good practice models for access to justice and models for compliance, enforcement and sanction.

If you would like to contribute or would like to know more, please contact us at: equalpayresearch@equalrightstrust.org