Almost one-third of leading charities are voluntarily reporting their ethnicity pay gap data, analysis conducted as part of Third Sector’s Charity Employer Index has indicated.

Of the 50 leading charities included in the index, 15 reported their ethnicity pay gap data alongside their gender pay gap data, despite there being no legal requirement to do so. 

Of those 15 charities, seven had fewer than 1,000 employees. 

Among those that publish their ethnicity pay gap data alongside their gender pay data are Barnardo’s, Oxfam GB, the National Trust and Cancer Research UK. 

A National Trust spokesperson told Third Sector that while it was not yet mandatory, the charity began reporting its disability, ethnicity and sexual orientation pay gaps in the past financial year “as we had reached the stage where we were confident of the accuracy of our data”.

The spokesperson said: “We hope that reporting on these pay gaps in the same way we do our gender pay gap will support our work to become a more inclusive organisation, with a diverse workforce that is representative of the society the National Trust serves.”

Citizens Advice also reports on its ethnicity pay gap. 

Angela Buxton, executive director of people at the charity, said: “Promoting equity, diversity and inclusion has long been at the heart of our mission and we’re proud that we have a small and reducing ethnicity pay gap at Citizens Advice. 

“Ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting are not legal requirements but, as an organisation, we believe it’s important to report on these matters to ensure transparency and to better focus our efforts to promote equity and inclusion for disabled colleagues and colleagues of colour. 

“We know we have more work to do to ensure these gaps continue to decrease year on year and we remain committed to advancing our EDI goals and reducing workforce race and disability disparities.”

While reporting ethnicity pay gaps is not legally mandatory, organisations with more than 250 employees have been statutorily required to report their gender pay gap information since 2017. 

But many charities that are not legally required to report on gender pay gaps have still actively chosen to gather and publish workforce data in recent years as part of a wider commitment to diversity and inclusion.

The Teenage Cancer Trust, which employs 175 full- and part-time members of staff, according to the register of charities, is notable for comprehensively reporting on both its gender and ethnicity pay gaps (which no employer is currently required by law to report) in its 2023 annual report and accounts.

The full details are available in the report, which is available here.