Employers “must not hold back” from reporting their ethnicity pay gap just because it isn’t a legislative requirement yet or because the Parker Review has revealed positive progress in its latest update.
This was the view of Melissa Blissett, Pay Gap Analytics lead at consultancy Barnett Waddingham, as she responded to findings from the Parker Review published yesterday.
The review into improving ethnic diversity across UK businesses said that in the FTSE 100, 96 out of 100 companies met the target to have at least one minority ethnic director on their board. Of these 96 companies, 56 have exceeded the target by having more than one ethnic minority director on their board.
For the FTSE 250, 175 out of 222 companies who submitted data (79 percent) currently meet the December 2024 target to have one minority ethnic director on their board. The report also said that when looking at the whole FTSE 250, including the companies that did not reply, the percentage meeting the target was 70 percent in 2023.
Chair of the review, David Tyler, said: “Our latest report showed that 96 FTSE 100 companies met the target, with at least one minority ethnic director on their boards, which is consistent with last year. This is a significant increase from 2016, when only 47 FTSE 100 companies had a director from a minority ethnic group.
There are now 12 ethnic minority CEOs in the FTSE 100, up from seven in 2022.
However, Blissett said: “Whilst it’s encouraging that the Parker review found that 70 percent of the FTSE 250 firms have met the ‘one by 2024’ board target, the review now turns its eye to senior management teams.
“Ethnicity pay gap reporting – and analysis of the underlying data within it – is critically important for employers to have the insights they need to ensure an inclusive culture and offer fair opportunity for career progression, such that this extension of targets can be achieved.”
She said it was important not to lose sight of why these targets are in place. For example, to secure the best talent for key roles at the very top of British business and to generate better productivity and performance across the UK, she added.
Last year, the review extended its scope to include 50 of the UK’s largest private companies. Of the 50 companies invited to participate, 36 provided their board data. Twenty-two report having at least one ethnic minority director on their board.
“This means that of the companies that reported their data to us, 61 percent already meet the target we have asked them to meet by December 2027,” the review said in its latest update. “Of the total 50 companies, this figure is 44 percent.”
