This article first appeared in the September 2026 issue of PLC Magazine.
Despite 2025 marking the 50th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act 1970 coming into force, the gender pay gap remains stubbornly high. Office for National Statistics figures for April 2025 put the headline gap at 12.8%. (Gender pay gap in the UK: 2025).
Recognising that the current equal pay framework is excessively complex, costly and slow, the government has published a detailed consultation on modernising equal pay and pay discrimination law in Great Britain (Equal pay and pay discrimination). The consultation has three objectives: preventing pay discrimination; protecting women, disabled, ethnic minority and outsourced workers effectively; and making disputes easier and cheaper to resolve.
For anyone who has faced the unenviable task of advising on the current regime, the proposal to fix it before extending it is welcome. However, the risk is that in pursuing this goal, the government may make the regime more, rather than less, complicated.
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