The Equal Pay Act 1970 (now superseded by the Equality Act 2010) established a legal framework requiring equal pay for equal work between men and women. Despite this, there is still a significant difference in pay between male and female workers – often referred to as the gender pay gap. In the public sector, women who work full time are paid on average 10 per cent less than men and in the private sector that figure rises to 19.8 per cent.
The Equality Act requires public sector organisations to consider gender equality within their workplaces as part of the Equality Duty and to publish relevant gender equality data. Whilst the Government has no immediate plans to use its power to make this mandatory for businesses in the private and voluntary sectors, it is asking them to report on a voluntary basis.
To this end, the Voluntary Gender Equality Analysis and Reporting Initiative has been launched. It is aimed at private sector and voluntary organisations employing 150 people or more that would like to address issues of equality between men and women but are unsure about how to proceed.
The aim is to help organisations identify and act on any unfairness based on gender, without the need for further regulation from the Government. Should the initiative fail, however, the Government will use its powers to introduce a compulsory scheme.
The initiative is supported by guidance from the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service. This can be found at http://www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/h/0/Voluntary-gender-equality-analysis-_-reporting-accessible-version.pdf.
Employers are reminded that the Equality Act makes pay secrecy clauses unenforceable and provides that individuals who discuss their pay with one another in order to find out if there might be pay discrimination with regard to any of the protected characteristics are protected from victimisation, even if their employment contract requires them not to discuss their pay.
Says <<CONTACT DETAILS>>, “Ensuring equality of pay between men and women is recommended for all employers, regardless of size. An employer that takes a proactive approach with regard to ensuring equal opportunities in the workplace is less likely to face a costly discrimination claim.”
Partner Note
The statistics on differences in rates of pay between men and women come from research by the Government Equalities Office.