LONDON, 12 August 2025 – Aon plc (NYSE: AON), a leading global professional services firm, has released the UK findings of its 2025 Global Pay Transparency Study, which reveals that the majority of employers in the country remain underprepared for pay transparency. Although the UK is not in the European Union (EU), UK-based companies with operations in the EU will still be affected and influenced by the upcoming EU Pay Transparency Directive.
The study of 123 organisations in the UK, across multiple sectors and with over two million employees, highlights critical gaps in readiness, strategy and communication. The research, conducted in March 2025, assessed organisations across three key dimensions: pay transparency strategy, pay equity analysis, and communication and governance.
Reactive approach
The study showed that only 10 percent of UK organisations say they are fully ready for pay transparency, while 66 percent said that they are still in the process of getting ready. The remaining 24 percent of organisations said that they were not ready.
Anthony Poole, partner in Talent Solutions at Aon in the UK, said:
"Half of UK respondents admitted they are taking a geographically targeted approach, implementing transparency measures only where they are legally required. This suggests that many employers are reacting to compliance pressures rather than proactively embedding transparency into their broader people strategy.
"This is pragmatic in the current environment, but organisations should be prepared for further developments across locations in the future as non-EU locations, including the UK, are likely to look at evolving their requirements at some stage."
Pay equity gaps
On the issue of pay equity, the study showed that only 18 percent of UK organisations have conducted an independent pay equity analysis in the past 12–18 months, compared to 26 percent globally. A further 18 percent have never conducted such an analysis. Despite this, 71 percent of UK respondents who identified pay equity gaps said they had taken some form of corrective action, such as year-end reviews or recruitment checks.
Anthony Poole said:
"To address pay disparities effectively, organisations will need to identify the underlying factors contributing to wage inequalities. This understanding will enable them to develop and implement comprehensive strategies that prevent such disparities from re-emerging throughout their workforce.
"It is also important to recognise that addressing or closing the gap is only one part of the challenge. EU requirements mean organisations need a robust and analytical framework for determining and justifying their calculated outcome, and robust ongoing governance to ensure these frameworks remain fit for purpose."
Developing a communication strategy
With communication representing a key element in the process, the study showed that only 23 percent of UK organisations have developed a communication strategy for pay transparency. Among those, 89 percent include training for line managers, and 68 percent have an organisation-wide plan to explain pay transparency to employees. However, 77 percent have no formal communication strategy in place and 59 percent have yet to develop a compliance calendar or internal reporting plan.
Anthony Poole said:
"Pay transparency is a major change for organisations, so communicating it clearly is a key element of the process. While regulatory compliance is the top driver for UK organisations, there is a clear opportunity to align pay transparency with talent attraction, retention and organisational values. Effective communication is essential to building trust and ensuring employees understand how pay decisions are made. Without it, even well-intentioned transparency efforts may fall short.
"With the EU Pay Transparency Directive requiring gender pay gap reporting from 2027, UK employers, especially those with EU operations, will need to act now to build robust, data-driven frameworks."
Global Pay Transparency Study is available at LINK
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