Equal pay risk is one of the most significant and complex people‑related challenges facing local authorities today - with financial, legal, reputational and cultural consequences.

Developed with input from experienced HR professionals and legal specialists, this role‑specific e‑learning programme reflects the real‑world equal pay issues organisations are facing, and the scrutiny they are under.

The programme goes beyond awareness‑raising to help organisations proactively identify, govern and manage equal pay risk.

Combining practical learning with a structured Equal Pay Risk Indicator, it provides leaders with early visibility of potential exposure, clarity on what good looks like, and confidence in the decisions taken across the organisation.

Who is this programme for?

This programme is ideal for anyone working for a local authority who has immediate or overarching responsibility for pay, reward, or people management decisions and who want to strengthen their confidence and capability in ensuring equal pay compliance.

Modules align to the following key personas, supporting individuals in meeting their role-specific responsibilities and helps organisations reduce equal pay risk, strengthen governance and embed a culture of accountability:

  • Managers seeking to make consistent, compliant pay and grading decisions.
  • HR professionals responsible for job evaluation, reward frameworks, and pay governance.
  • Senior leaders overseeing organisational risk, culture, and workforce equality objectives.

 

What does it deliver?

The programme delivers role‑specific learning and shared organisational insight, ensuring equal pay responsibilities are clearly understood and effectively governed at every level.

  • Equal Pay Essentials - Builds core understanding of what equal pay means in practice, how pay disparities can arise, and how to respond appropriately when issues are identified.
  • Equal Pay for HR Professionals - Equips HR teams with the skills to design and assure job evaluation frameworks, conduct and interpret equal pay audits, and strengthen governance through ongoing monitoring.
  • Equal Pay for Leaders - Enables senior leaders to manage equal pay as a strategic risk by setting clear governance, using data‑led oversight, modelling compliant behaviour, and gaining assurance over how equal pay risk is being managed.

At the end of the programme, HR professionals and senior leaders complete a short, structured Equal Pay Risk Indicator. This provides a Red / Amber / Green view of organisational exposure across key risk areas, including job evaluation, discretionary pay decisions, monitoring arrangements and leadership ownership.

Key facts

Duration
c 30-60 minutes  
Provider
Grant Thornton  
Content
3 Modules tailored to specific roles:

1. Equal Pay Essentials - Understanding where and how equal pay risks can materialise, and their impact.
Identifying and challenging practices which may result in equal pay risk using evidence-based reasoning and structured analysis.

2. Equal Pay for HR professionals - What to look for in workforce and pay data to identify systemic risks or emerging patterns. 
Designing and maintaining equal pay processes, tools, and assurance mechanisms.

3. Equal Pay for Leaders - Ability to reflect and assess how effectively equal pay risk is being managed in their local authority. Practical steps to ensure they are getting assurance as a Leader over their equal pay risk

Equal Pay Risk Indicator
A short, structured assessment completed by HR professionals and Leaders to provide insight into organisational equal pay risk and assurance gaps. 
Debrief
Once training is complete, we will host a debrief session led by our Equal Pay specialists, where the results of the Equal Pay Risk Indicator are discussed, key risks and assurance gaps are explored, and potential next steps are identified.
Assessment
Each module includes a knowledge test assessment and key takeaways and resources to support ongoing learning and application of knowledge.  
Fees
Price upon request  

Key benefits

Shared understanding of responsibility and risk 

Builds a common, role‑specific understanding across managers, HR professionals and senior leaders of how equal pay risk arises, who owns it, and how it should be managed in practice.

Early visibility and proactive management of equal pay risk

Combines practical learning with a structured Equal Pay Risk Indicator, giving leaders early visibility of risk, assurance gaps and priorities before issues escalate into complaints or claims.

Flexible, role‑specific delivery with organisational impact 

Modular, on‑demand learning tailored to different roles, allowing organisations to build leadership insight first and then extend consistent equal pay capability across wider teams.

Equal pay risk is shaped by everyday decisions, not just policy. Recruitment choices, job design, market adjustments and allowances all have real consequences — and if they’re inconsistently applied, equal pay risks materialise. Effective risk management relies on everyone understanding the impact of their actions. When managers, HR, and leaders all recognise their part in keeping pay practices fair and defensible, councils are far better placed to spot issues early and minimise litigation risk.
Simon Christian Director, Public Services Consulting.

Take the next step 

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