CIPD consultation response: Equality Law

The government sought evidence on a number of areas of equality policy in order to identify barriers to opportunity and seek expert views on how to overcome these barriers.

The review looked at areas such as pay discrimination on the basis of race and disability, improving the enforcement of equal pay rights, and improving pay transparency, among others.  

In our submission we cover:

• Pay transparency: despite progress in advertisement of pay ranges, true transparency is still limited. The benefits of greater transparency are improved trust, reduced inequalities across gender, ethnicity and disability, and better pension outcomes.
• Tackling workplace harassment: CIPD research (2024) found that a significant minority of employers still admit they are not doing enough to address sexual harassment. Key actions for employers include building a prevention-first culture, clear and robust policies, training and awareness, psychological safety, manager capability, ethical use of NDAs.
• Stronger enforcement: laws alone are not enough. We urge government and regulators to step up enforcement, ensure employers understand their obligations, and increase transparency around harassment and equality. We also back campaigns to raise awareness of rights at work, and encourage employers to publish their harassment policies openly.