Ahead of Black History Month, a Glassdoor survey has found black employees are being impacted by the ethnicity pay gap, and their workplace experience is not equal to that of their co-workers.

Looking at the experience of black employees in the workplace, Glassdoor’s survey of 2,000 employees found:

• Two in five have experienced a pay gap because of their ethnicity or believe it exists in their company.
• 66% think their employer needs to do more to close the ethnicity pay gap and a further one in two say the gap has widened in the last two years.
• Over half (57%) believe the pay gap could be closed by increased salary transparency.

The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from being discriminated against because of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. An employee can claim equal pay for equal work with another employee or employees in the same employment, which means that the employee and his/her comparator are employed by the same or an associated employer, either at the same workplace or in different workplaces but under common terms and conditions.

Glassdoor’s UK economist Lauren Thomas, who carried out the research, commented:

“Diversity and inclusion have been increasingly prioritised by employers in the last two years. However, it is clear that more still needs to be done before equality can be achieved in the workplace. Increased transparency around diversity and inclusion isn’t easy, but it is a powerful way to highlight progress and incentivise accountability. And while mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting is still in discussion, many companies, including Glassdoor, are voluntarily publishing their diversity and inclusion reports. Ultimately, company investments in diversity and inclusion efforts are both a social good and a critical part of a company’s workforce management strategy—a particularly salient consideration at a time when finding and retaining talent is so difficult.”