Pay equity after the Equality Act 2010: does sexual orientation still matter?

Abstract

Analyses of linked employer–employee data for Britain indicate bisexual men earn 20 per cent less per hour than heterosexual men, ceteris paribus. There is no wage differential between gay and heterosexual men. Among women there is no wage gap between bisexuals and heterosexuals. However, lesbians are paid nearly 30 per cent less than heterosexual women, unless they are employed in a workplace with an equal opportunities policy which explicitly refers to sexual orientation, whereupon there is no wage gap. Workplace sorting by sexual orientation does not affect the size of the sexual orientation wage gaps.