What is Equal Pay Day?

20 November 2024 marks the UK’s “Equal Pay Day”. Equal Pay Day is a national campaign led by the Fawcett Society, a charity which campaigns for women’s rights. It marks the point in the year when, based on the gender pay gap, women effectively stop being paid, compared to men.

Equal Pay Day is a stark reminder of pay disparities, including societal issues such as the representation of women in senior positions, prompting further analysis of contributing factors and potential solutions. 

Legislative changes in this area

Globally, we are seeing an increased trend for greater pay transparency as a means of bolstering equal pay protections and closing the gender pay gap. In particular, in the European Union, the Pay Transparency Directive will require employers to be more transparent about pay and pay structures from 2026 and to publish gender pay gap data across Europe for the first time from 2027. It has inspired calls for similar transparency measures in the UK.

The UK government is proposing to extend gender pay gap reporting to ethnicity and disability and to explicitly extend equal pay protection beyond gender to ethnicity and disability, which is likely to take effect from 2026.

The Fawcett Society

The Fawcett Society has been instrumental in raising awareness about the gender pay gap. Founded in 1866, their work encompasses a wide range of issues, including equal pay, employment discrimination, and representation of women in leadership positions.

The Fawcett Society compiles the data using the mean, full-time hourly gender pay gap. This year the gap is 11.3%, up from 10.4% last year.

The Fawcett Society’s annual calculation of Equal Pay Day serves as a powerful reminder of the progress still needed to achieve true economic parity. Increased transparency, as advocated for by the EU Pay Transparency Directive, could be a significant step towards this goal by helping to identify and rectify pay discrepancies.

A look back

The date of Equal Pay Day fluctuates each year. Here's a glimpse at past Equal Pay dates: 

As you can see, the fluctuations reflect the slow progress made in closing the gender pay gap in a sustainable way, the impact of the COVID19 epidemic and highlight the need for continued focus and action.

Understanding the issues

Equal Pay Day prompts further examination of the complexities surrounding pay disparities. Here are some of the key steps that businesses can take to help understand the issues and drivers in their business:

By fostering a greater understanding of the issues and engaging in constructive dialogue, we can work towards a more equitable future.

If you would like support regarding your gender, ethnicity or disability pay gap; Equal Pay audits; compliance with the EU Pay Transparency Directive or other Employment Law topics, please contact: 

Kathryn Dooks, Partner, Deloitte Legal, 020 7303 2894

Deepinder Lamba, Partner, Deloitte Global Employer Services, 020 7007 2689

Gary Fereday, Director, Deloitte Global Employer Services, 0121 695 5224