Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps the Government is taking to tackle discrimination in the workplace to help reduce the gender pay gap.

In 2017, the government introduced ground-breaking regulations requiring large employers, in both the public and private sector, to publish their gender pay gaps annually. The transparency generated by these regulations will motivate employers to identify barriers to women’s progression in the workplace, and to take action to address them.

This builds on previous success in using transparency to drive change, including our support for the Hampton-Alexander Review to achieve 33% women on boards, and 33% women in Executive Committees and positions reporting directly to the Executive Committee in the FTSE 350 by 2020.

In October 2017 we also published the Race Disparity Audit to give an unprecedented insight into how people from different ethnic backgrounds are treated in society, including their access to healthcare, education, employment and in the criminal justice system.

These actions are underpinned by legislation to safeguard rights in the workplace. The Equality Act 2010 makes it unlawful to discriminate against someone because of pregnancy or maternity. The Equality and Human Rights Commission and Acas provide advice and guidance to employees who feel they have experienced discrimination. We also fund the Equality Advisory and Support Service, a free advice helpline open to anyone in England, Scotland and Wales who feels that they may have been the victim of unlawful discrimination.