Recent CIPD research, Barriers to BAME employee career progression to the top (2017) looked at the barriers to career progression faced by employees from a Black, Asian and minority ethnic background. The research showed a significant lack of ethnic diversity at the top of UK organisations and highlighted that BAME employees are particularly dissatisfied with their experiences of management and career progression.
The government’s Race Disparity Audit, which sought to establish how people of different ethnic backgrounds are treated across society found significant disparities in the pay and progression of employees from black and minority ethnic backgrounds when compared to their white colleagues.
Baroness McGregor-Smith recommended that businesses with more than 50 employees should be required to publish ethnicity pay data in her government-commissioned independent review into race in the workplace, published in February 2017.
In October of this year, the government published a consultation to gather views on whether organisations should be required to report on the pay differentials between people from different ethnic backgrounds and seeks to gather information on:
- what ethnicity pay information should be reported by employers to allow for meaningful action,
- who should be expected to report, and
- what the next steps should be
The CIPD is proactively responding to the Ethnicity Pay Reporting Consultation by surveying members, in addition to holding regional policy roundtables in London, Cardiff, Leicester and Manchester. We were pleased to host our roundtable discussion in mid December at Ziferblat Edge Street. Manchester. You can visit or curation of the event resources here.
If you would like to feed your views into this significant consultation, you can also respond to the CIPD survey on Ethnicity Pay Reporting
Claire McCartney Diversity and Inclusion Adviser (CIPD) facilitated our discussion (under the Chatham House Rule) and covered the following areas:
- The benefits of reporting ethnicity pay information;
- What type of ethnicity pay reporting should be reported;
- Whether any supporting contextual data should be published;
- A threshold of organisation size for reporting;
- Your experiences of collecting ethnicity data, or issues on ethnicity pay;
- What measures could be taken to encourage employees to disclose their ethnicity;
- The support that would be useful for employers and HR or payroll professionals.
Claire McCartney
Claire specialises in the areas of diversity & inclusion, flexible working, resourcing and talent management. She has also conducted research into meaning and trust at work, age diversity, workplace carers and enterprise and has worked on a number of international projects. She is the author of several reports and articles and regularly presents at seminars and conferences.
Prior to her roles at the CIPD, Claire was Principal Researcher at Roffey Park where she conducted research projects into a variety of topics including Roffey Park’s annual Management Agenda survey, work-life balance, flexible working, employee volunteering, talent management, and diversity. Claire has also worked with a range of clients on tailored research needs.
Read the CIPD’s official comment on the consultation announcement here . The CIPD has also released a survey report on BAME progression at work here
Help to contribute to the CIPD’s submission by sharing your views, insights, and experience. We look forward to welcoming you.
CIPD Manchester Branch
Public Policy Panel
CIPD Manchester Branch 