The Equality and Human Rights Commission has warned ethnic minority and disabled people’s careers are at risk by a failure of employers to collect meaningful data on representation in the workforce.
The national equality body is calling for mandatory reporting on staff recruitment, retention and promotion by ethnicity and disability, as it publishes research which shows that most employers fail to collect this data or do so inconsistently.
It says that this means they are unable to remove the barriers to the progression and representation of disabled and ethnic minority staff in the workplace.
The research found that whilst a clear majority (77%) of employers say that ensuring workforce diversity is a priority for their organisation, less than half (44%) record or collect data on whether employees are disabled or not and only one-third (36%) record or collect data on employee ethnicity.
Even fewer (23%) collect data on staff pay and progression that can be broken down by ethnicity and disabled and non-disabled staff. Only 3% of organisations actually analyse this data to explore differences in pay and progression between different ethnicities and disabled and non-disabled staff.
Caroline Waters, Deputy Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said: “We’ve seen how mandatory reporting has led to employers redoubling efforts to address their gender pay gaps. We need the same level of scrutiny and focused action on opportunities for disabled and ethnic minority staff in the workplace. By not identifying and taking action to tackle unfairness in recruitment, retention and progression, employers are putting the careers of their ethnic minority and disabled staff at a disadvantage.
“Collecting meaningful data will give employers the insight they need to tackle the underlying causes of inequality and ensure that disabled people and those from ethnic minorities enjoy a working environment that allows them to reach their full potential. Our research has shown that first we need to support employers to collect and analyse data on staff ethnicity and disability and reassure employees about how their information will be used.”
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