Abolition of the statutory equal pay questionnaire 


Equal pay claims became even harder with the abolition, on 6 April 2014, of the statutory equal pay questionnaire. This was a questionnaire procedure that enabled a woman to ask her employer for information about pay, to help her decide whether to issue equal pay proceedings in the tribunal. 


However, although the formal questionnaire has been abolished, women can still ask structured questions in writing about their pay, as Acas guidance, Asking and responding to questions of discrimination in the workplace, makes clear. The guidance can be downloaded from the Acas website (www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/m/p/Asking-and-responding-to-questions-of-discrimination-in-the-workplace.pdf).


Tribunals can still take into account evasive or incomplete answers about pay, when deciding whether an employer has discriminated unlawfully.


The Acas guidance suggests a three-step approach to asking questions about pay:


• identify your comparator; 


• explain how they are doing equal work to you; and


• ask further relevant pay-related questions, such as, how is pay determined by the employer and what is in the comparator’s job description that could explain the difference in pay.