When UK citizens go to the polls on July 4, Labour is set to win by a large margin. What are Labour’s plans for public sector equality and diversity tracking requirements?

The Equality Act 2010 includes the public sector equality duty. This requires public bodies, including education institutions, to:

• Prioritise the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, and victimisation
• Advance equality of opportunity
• Foster good relations between people with different traits listed as protected characteristics

As part of Labour’s plans to end pay discrimination at work, Labour pledges to strengthen Equality Impact Assessments for public sector bodies. 

Labour has also proposed to extend equal pay protection to ethnicity and disability, as part of its plans to introduce new race relations legislation if it wins the election. The reported proposals would include both a plan to extend equal pay protection to BAME workers and disabled workers, and compulsory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting.

The commitment to extend reporting requirements is connected with Labour’s New Deal for Working People, which includes an intention to require businesses with unacceptable ethnicity pay gaps to implement an improvement plan to eradicate inequalities. In a bid to improve enforcement in this area, there is also a commitment to implementing a regulatory enforcement unit for equal pay claims.

Under the proposed changes, Labour would require public service employers, including the NHS, schools, councils and the police, to collect equality and diversity data and report on staffing, pay, as well as different outcomes by ethnicity. Given the commitment to enabling equal pay claims based on ethnicity, it will be important for public sector employers to understand their pay gaps based on ethnicity and disability, as well as gender. Labour are hoping the reforms result in an extra £26bn for ethnic minority workers.

Compliance and the UK General Election – Special Webinar

Every sector could be impacted and every area of compliance is likely to be reviewed by the next government. From overhauls of financial services regulation, reviews of data protection law, closer alignment with EU regulations and an expansion of health and safety protections, the next parliament will see compliance at the centre of the regulatory agenda.

With everything from whistleblowing reform to overhauls of corporate governance, new employment rights like menopause leave and expanded equal pay rules, alongside crackdowns on tax evasion and expansion of the money laundering regulations, organisations large and small should prepare for the outcome of the general election.

This webinar will cover:

• What the main parties are pledging on key compliance areas
• Potential changes to legislation including the Equality Act, sexual harassment and employment rights
• Expected legislation on AML, bribery, sanctions, fraud and economic crime
• Possible expansion of regulations around GDPR, AI and health and safety
• Preparing your organisation for future regulatory changes and new requirements