PAY DISCRIMINATION
EOC calls for reform of equal pay laws
The Equal Opportunities Commission has urged the government to introduce a new duty on employers to take action on all the main causes of the gender pay gap.
According to the EOC, the new law would modernise existing laws and would:
Smaller businesses would have a programme of support to help them with the process, the EOC says.
Full equality review
Where the equality check found an organisation at risk of breach of the Equal Pay Act, the obligation would require them to undertake a full equal pay review. For employers carrying out the rigorous pay review, the EOC wants to see an amnesty period from potential claims from individuals while they are addressing the problem.
"The Equal Pay Act as it stands is putting off employers from addressing equal pay because they fear cases being taken against them while they are trying to put matters right," the EOC says.
The three causes of the gender pay gap
In March 2001 the EOC Equal Pay Task Force found three main causes of the gender pay gap:
A final word
"Thirty years on, it's clear that the Equal Pay Act has reached the end of its usefulness. The pay gap is simply not closing. It has been stuck at 40% for women working part-time for the past 25 years. Failing to act to reform the law is no longer an option." -- Jenny Watson, acting chair at the EOC.
Want to know more?
Download the EOC's submission to the government's Women and Work Commission in which the EOC calls for a new duty to be placed on employers to act on all three causes of the pay gap. Visit www.eoc.org.uk/EOCeng/dynpages/camp_pay.asp
More details can be found at www.eoc.org.uk/cseng/news/05_july_pay_review_research.asp?SubDate=Tuesday+5+July%2C+2005
Posted 14 September 2005