I am wondering if any of the community have asked employees to disclose their ethnicity in readiness for pay reporting legislation and for more positive proactive action planning. If yes, what % of employees disclosed their ethnicity? Thanks.
Can’t answer your query specifically, but just to observe that I’d think that ethnicity data needn’t and shouldn’t be gathered on this ethnicity - focused, reactive, ad-hoc basis but as part of routine overall equal opportunities data gathering and monitoring that incorporates all the other usual parameters and which really should be in place already.
Counsel of perfection I know and sorry if stating the obvious!
Hi Mark
My particular locations have / have had extremely tiny ethnic minority populations, so employee numbers about this particular aspect are usually totally self-evident and not statistically significant, so can't help much I'm afraid. But a questionnaire asking solely what's your ethnic origin? probably would result in a very paltry response whereas combining it with a lot of other equal opportunities data collection aspects would probably elicit a better one.
Some years ago we employed a 'lad', (via a government scheme). He was born in the town and brought up the in town. His mum and dad were Scottish and had been born in Scotland but the father's father was Indian.
When it came to the government department wanting ethnicity details, the lad put down White British But, the government bean counters insisted he was racially of 'Indian' ethnicity, even though 75% of him was of course white British. The lad was quite upset that he was not allowed to pick or choose.
Many organizations, especially larger companies and those in regulated industries, have started to request employees to disclose their ethnicity. This is often part of broader diversity and inclusion (D&I) initiatives and is closely linked to CRM data enrichment efforts. The trend is driven by the need to prepare for potential pay reporting legislation and to identify and address pay disparities among different ethnic groups. CRM data enrichment enables organizations to enhance their existing data by adding valuable information, such as employee ethnicity, which can help in analyzing and improving D&I strategies. The percentage of employees who disclose their ethnicity can vary widely based on several factors, including company culture, employee trust in the organization, and the perceived importance and confidentiality of the data. Industry surveys and reports suggest that disclosure rates often range between 50% to 80%. Higher rates are generally associated with organizations that have a strong culture of trust and transparency, and that clearly communicate the purpose and benefits of disclosing such information.
