Watchdog Says UK Workers Should Have Legal Right to See Colleagues' Pay

The UK's human rights watchdog has called for workers to be given a legal right to know what their colleagues earn, arguing that greater openness would help stop pay discrimination, particularly against women.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) set out the recommendation in its response to government proposals to overhaul equal pay laws. It said staff who suspect colleagues are being paid more for similar work deserve a right to transparency.

The watchdog also wants employers banned from asking job applicants about their current salaries during recruitment. At present, companies may request that information, though candidates are not obliged to answer.

Ministers are weighing a measure that would force employers to respond to staff questionnaires about colleagues' pay. Such a right existed before but was abolished in 2014 as part of an effort to cut bureaucracy for businesses.

Under the EHRC's proposal, the forms would let a worker request details about a colleague doing similar work, including annual salary, hours worked, bonuses, overtime and the job description. Staff could also ask about any job evaluations carried out by their employer, covering job grades, salary benchmarks, internal scores and a copy of the final evaluation records.

Workers should further be able to request a ranking of each person in a comparable team based on annual basic pay and hours. They would also have the right to press employers for more information where they believe the data supplied is inaccurate or incomplete.

The watchdog stressed that employers must be required to answer within a "specified timeframe". It said: "Without such a requirement, employers may delay, provide evasive responses or avoid responding. We suggest this should be introduced as a mandatory measure, rather than an 'optional' one, to adequately meet the policy aims of this consultation."

The EHRC argued that improved pay transparency could help companies avoid employment tribunals, leading to the "early resolution of pay disputes". It also said the measures could help narrow the UK's gender pay gap, where women have historically earned less than men.

According to the Office for National Statistics, the median gender pay gap as of April this year showed women in full-time work earning 6.8% less on average than men. The gap is much wider in some sectors. In the finance industry, the mean and median pay gaps, at 24% and 22% respectively, are double the national average for UK companies.

The EHRC said: "Introducing a requirement that prevents employers from asking about salary history or expectations, alongside the proposed pay transparency measures in this consultation, will likely reduce pay gaps and discrimination against women."