By Basant El-Faramawy
The UK's Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has recommended that workers be given a legal right to know their colleagues' pay to prevent pay discrimination, particularly against women.
The watchdog made the recommendation in response to government proposals to overhaul equal pay laws, arguing that transparency is needed if staff suspect others are being paid more for similar work.
The EHRC also called for a ban on employers asking job applicants about their existing salaries during recruitment, a practice currently allowed though candidates are not required to answer.
Under the proposed measures, companies would be required to respond to staff questionnaires about colleagues' pay within a specified timeframe, providing details such as annual salary, hours worked, bonuses, overtime, job descriptions, and any job evaluations.
The commission said mandatory responses would prevent employers from delaying or providing evasive answers, and could help resolve pay disputes early while tackling the UK's gender pay gap.
As of April, the median gender pay gap for full-time workers stood at 6.8%, according to the Office for National Statistics, with the finance industry showing mean and median gaps of 24% and 22% respectively, double the national average.
The EHRC stated that preventing employers from asking about salary history, combined with pay transparency measures, would likely reduce pay gaps and discrimination against women.
