Black and ethnic minority workers are more likely to earn below the real Living Wage. They're also more affected by insecure work, and young adults are 47% more likely to have a zero-hours contract than their White peers.

But Black and ethnic minority talent could boost the economy by £24 billion if properly unleashed in the workplace. Companies with the most ethnically and culturally diverse executive teams outperform those with average diversity levels for their industry.

Companies wanting to end this inequality must start by disclosing their ethnicity pay gap. At the moment, less than 1 in 5 FTSE100 companies are doing this.

This toolkit looks at barriers companies face to disclosing their pay gap, and helps investors constructively engage with them to take action.

Companies told us they want to reduce their pay gap, but face particular barriers

• Companies face a shortage of talent across all aspects of their business. To be successful, they will want to reach the widest talent pool. By reporting the ethnicity pay gap, companies show their commitment to hiring across the broadest spectrum of society.
• Companies struggle with low numbers of employees disclosing their ethnicities, preventing the companies from reporting on their ethnicity pay gap.
• ​Companies want to increase the representation of minority workers within their workforce, particularly in senior positions, to help reduce the ethnicity pay gap.

Investors can engage with companies in several ways

• Publicly commit to report their ethnicity pay gap, explain why it exists, and produce a robust action plan within a reasonable timeframe.​​
• Use the interventions set out in this toolkit to increase employee self disclosure.
• Set targets to increase the representation of staff from an ethnic minority background (in line with demographics) and include these in their business plans​
  
  

Download our one page summary here.