Labour plans to put race on par with sex in equal pay claims

LABOUR is proposing to put race on the same footing as sex in equal pay claims to “root out” inequality.

Under the reforms, ethnic minorities and disabled people would have a “full right to equal pay” enshrined in law, bringing their legal protections on par with women. In the party’s view, this would make it easier for people from minority groups to bring a claim against their employer, as they would no longer have to prove “direct discrimination”.

But Kemi Badenoch, the equalities minister, suggested the change would be pointless, as it is “obviously already illegal to pay someone less because of their race”.

She warned the “credulous” plans would actually “set people against each other” and “make everything worse”, as they would create a “bonanza for dodgy activist lawyers” and waste millions of pounds on “red tape”.

Currently, while everyone can sue on the basis of discrimination, women have a right to equal pay for work of “equal value” written into the Equality Act 2010.

This means they are entitled to make a claim if they suspect they are being paid less than a man for a job deemed to have equal worth, even if it’s technically a different role; for example, a cashier versus a warehouse worker.

Labour would expand this right to include black and Asian and minority ethnic people, as well as disabled people.

It is already illegal to pay these groups less based on their protected characteristics, but at the moment they have to prove “direct discrimination” to sue. The reforms would allow them to make an equal pay claim instead.

Attacking the policy on social media, Mrs Badenoch said: “Labour’s proposed new race law will set people against each other and see millions wasted on pointless red tape.

“It is obviously already illegal to pay someone less because of their race. The new law would be a bonanza for dodgy, activist lawyers.”

She added: “They focus on fake problems because they have no answers to the real challenges facing our country and the world.

“Labour do not have a plan to make the UK better. They will spend all their time on credulous proposals that sound good but will make everything worse.”

Darren Newman, an employment lawyer, suggested making an equal pay claim can be more complicated, partly because it requires “finding an actual comparator – rather than a hypothetical one – employed on ‘equal work’”.

Writing in a blog post, he said most equal pay cases “eventually boil down to the question of whether the pay is discriminatory” anyway, adding: “It is not at all clear that an equal pay claim is better than a discrimination claim. It is however undoubtedly more complex.”

The move forms one of the central policies in Labour’s proposed race equality act, designed to deliver economic growth “that everyone can have a stake in”.

Separately, the party would enact existing “dual discrimination” laws, aimed at streamlining the process for people who wish to sue on two fronts. For example, a black woman would be able to make one claim for both sexism and racism, rather than two.

The measures, written into the Equality Act, are currently lying dormant. The change would probably be made through secondary legislation.