Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,
Oxfam paid its white staff a median of 33% less than colleagues who described themselves as black or a person of colour last year, according to the charity's own annual report. Cancer Research UK and the British Red Cross reported similar negative ethnicity pay gaps in favour of ethnic minority staff.
The figures, drawn from the organisations' voluntary disclosures, have prompted questions about how "positive action" provisions in the Equality Act 2010 are being applied in practice. Critics argue the measures, intended to address under-representation, are producing outcomes that disadvantage white employees in recruitment, promotion and pay.
Oxfam's ethnicity pay gap stood at -33.0% on the median and -12.9% on the mean, based on data from 69.2% of staff who shared their ethnicity. Black or people of colour (BPOC) staff made up 10.5% of the workforce. The median gap had been -10.4% the previous year.
Oxfam pay white people 33% less than non-white employees. Is this even legal? Because if it was the other way around you can bet your bottom dollar there would be uproar in Downing Street and on the streets!
— JP-ExileinDerry (@UkandNIbackup) October 22, 2026
Remember the BBC are paying Black Asians more than white colleagues. https://t.co/wY6hUilhXZ
The charity noted that a
