The most recent Equality Act was enforced in 2010, replacing previous legislation including the Equal Pay Act 1970. The Equality Act 2010 covers the equality of terms provisions to ensure that all men and women should receive equal pay when in similar roles.

Currently, there are issues for employees when comparing salary pay, as in accordance with the Equality Act 2010, employees are prohibited from discussing differences in pay with each other.

However, employees can compare their contract of employment with a comparator, which means an employee of the opposite sex with a similar role and equivalent terms. The equivalent terms can include the following:

The NHS has recently come under fire regarding racial discrimination in relation to pay, as evidence showed that the salary of white senior consultants was almost £10,000 more than BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) doctors.

The study also showed that BME nurses and personnel staff were also being underpaid compared to their white comparators.

This information emerged in the British Medical Journal, in which Professor John Appleby, the director of research and chief economist at the Nuffield Trust thinktank, contributed to the study, stating: