Equal pay: UK employment law

Essential points

• Equal pay for equal work refers to the right for men and women in the same employment and performing equal work, to have equal terms and conditions of employment, and to receive equal pay. This right is set out in the Equality Act 2010.
• The right to equal pay applies to employees, workers, apprentices and some self-employed people may be covered (if they have a contract personally to do work).
• Equal work is:
  • ‘like work’ involving the same or broadly similar tasks, knowledge and skills, or,
  • ‘work rated as equivalent’ as rated under a job evaluation scheme, or, 
  • ‘work of equal value’ based on a job evaluation study or expert evidence.   
• Not ensuring equal pay in an organisation risks reputational damage and costly legal claims. 
• When an equal pay claim proceeds, there is a well-established legal process. The infographic on this page helps HR practitioners understand how that process works and how fairness is assessed in practice.
• This remains particularly important in the context of the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025). While the ERA 2025 does not change the legal basis of equal pay claims, it is expected to increase scrutiny and enforcement. The introduction of the Fair Work Agency, alongside new equality action plans for large employers, is likely to increase the identification of unequal pay risks. 
• More broadly, the government's Make Work Pay agenda signals an intention to extend equal pay expectations to race and disability in future. Although those reforms are not yet in force, individuals who identify a difference in their pay (which could be linked to their race or disability) may have a similar right to claim equal pay, rather than relying on the discrimination provisions which are currently available to them. 
• For information on gender pay gap reporting, please see the dedicated law page. 

CIPD members can log in to see a visual overview of the stages in an equal pay claim process.