In its response to the call for evidence on equality laws, which closed on 30 June 2025, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has suggested the Government brings back equal pay questionnaires by re-instating s.138 of the Equality Act 2010.
In a move to cut red tape, s.138 was repealed in April 2014 by the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013. This allowed employees to ask their employer for information on pay comparators based on gender (which is currently the only protected characteristic to which equal pay rules apply) within the organisation, which could then be put before employment tribunals to draw an inference of discrimination if the employer failed to reply or if the answer provided was evasive.
On the issues with the current equal pay enforcement regime, the EHRC said:
“Equal pay claims also take a long time to resolve, particularly large group claims. This means that individuals who successfully claim can wait years to receive the pay to which they are entitled.”
It highlighted the benefits of the re-introduction of the statutory question and answer procedure:
“The equal pay scheme is very difficult for an unrepresented claimant to navigate. Prospective claimants may also struggle to identify a comparator because they do not know how much colleagues are paid […] while individuals can request information from their employer, the lack of a statutory question and answer procedure means employers are not obliged to respond.”
It however also noted that the Government would need to be mindful of the challenges of data protection law and the handling of sensitive information uncovered by a statutory question and answer procedure under s.138.
