The government has said it intends to give disabled people stronger rights to equal pay.
In a call for evidence (gov.uk) in April 2025, the government said, among other things, that it will:
- make the right to equal pay effective for ethnic minority and disabled people
- establish an equal pay regulation and enforcement unit with the involvement of trade unions, and
- ensure that outsourcing of services can no longer be used by employers to avoid paying equal pay.
The government called for evidence on how to achieve this. For example, the government asked for evidence on the prevalence of pay discrimination on the basis of disability, and evidence on advantages and disadvantages of a specific equal pay scheme compared with the present disability discrimination rules as they relate to pay.
Currently, the equal pay regime in the Equality Act 2010 (EqA) applies only to sex.
The changes are to be included in a draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, not yet published.
The Labour Manifesto (pdf, labourparty.org.uk), June 2024, said “We will introduce the full right to equal pay for disabled people”, as well as equal pay for ethnic minority people.
For discussion on whether this is a good idea, given existing EqA protections, see Labour’s plans for discrimination law (rangeofreasonableresponses.com), February 2024.
