Equal Pay resources and audit toolkit

We have developed a number of resources to help employers understand and implement equal pay.

Equal pay in practice checklists

Equal pay in practice is a series of checklists for employers, which are guidance notes to help deal with the more common causes of unequal pay in the workplace and help identify potential vulnerability to equal pay claims. They can also be used alongside our toolkit for equal pay audits (below) as supplementary guidance notes or to help sort out any problems identified by the audit.

Small business toolkit: Equal pay audits

This toolkit is a guide to good equal pay practice for small firms, intended for businesses with up to 50 employees. It aims to help small businesses understand their obligations under equal pay legislation and be able to check whether they provide equal pay in practice.

Toolkit: carrying out an equal pay audit

This toolkit is a guide for employers on carrying out an equal pay audit, designed for businesses with over 50 employees. It also gives advice on good equal pay practice, on conducting equality impact assessments and provides guidance on actions arising from the audit that may need to be taken to eliminate any pay gaps. It will help you carry out an equal pay audit related to the gender, race, disability, or working patterns of your employees. We will refer to these employees as ‘protected groups’. The Commission is currently assessing the potential for further adaptations to the kit so as to enable employers to address pay gaps on grounds of age, sexual orientation, religion and belief.

The toolkit gives general guidance only and should not be regarded as a complete or authoritative statement of the law. Readers should be alert to the possibility of developments in case law that may affect the rights of employees. The toolkit is intended to be used as a living document, which may be added to, or taken away from, depending on current legislative changes, case law and user experience. If you have any comments on the kit please email: Jenny.Birchall@equalityhumanrights.com

The toolkit follows a five step model, but there are also a number of general sections that provide important context when undertaking an equal pay audit. Each step has an 'additional information' section with more detailed resources relating to that step.

Background and Context

• Carrying out an equal pay audit - what is an equal pay audit, they are needed, and more about this toolkit
• Equal Pay Act 1970 - explains the key features of the legislation
• Pay gaps - what they are and where equal pay audits fit in
• Equality impact assessments - what they are and how they can be used in relation to pay
• Sex Discrimination Act 1975 - explains how this legislation applies to equal pay

Step 1 - Scope

• Step 1: Deciding the scope
• Step 1 - additional information (data required)

Step 2 - Equal work, equal value and job evaluation

• Step 2: Protected groups and equal work
• Step 2 - additional information (job evaluation, equal workand equal value checks)

Step 3 - Collecting and analysing pay data

• Step 3: Collecting pay data
• Step 3 - additional information (calculations and analysis)

Step 4 - Causes of pay gaps in all elements of pay

• Step 4: Causes of pay gaps
• Step 4 - additional information (examples and checklists)

Step 5 - Developing an equal pay action plan

• Step 5: Developing an action plan 
• Step 5 - additional information (time scales and resulting actions)

Downloads:

• Code of Practice on Equal Pay(Pdf)
• 'Solving employment problems - a new way' (Pdf) - guidance from ACAS/BERR/CIPD April 2009
• Research report 9: Pay gaps across equalities areas (Pdf)
• Research report 14: Pay gaps across the equality strands: a review (Pdf)

Related content:

• The Commission's position on equal pay(Briefing March 2009)
• Commission calls for radical equal pay reform and a new approach to closing the pay gap (Press release March 2009) 
• Commission consults on gender pay gap reporting (August 2009)