A recent survey has shown that the gender pay gap has narrowed overall by just half a percent.
Professional Support Lawyer Elizabeth Stevens comments:
According to figures published by the Office of National Statistics this month, the overall pay gap has narrowed by 0.5 per cent to 22 per cent. The figures are significantly better in the public sector where the difference between men and women’s pay is now 21 per cent, compared to the private sector where the difference has actually increased by 0.7 per cent to 28.8 per cent. Harriet Harman, Minister for Women and Equality, welcomed the small improvement but has expressed disappointment that the private sector is falling even further behind the public sector.
The Equality Bill is intended to make further improvements in gender pay discrimination, although it has been criticised by some for not going far enough to promote pay transparency.
Equality Bill
The Bill contains a power to require large private-sector employers (250 or more employees) to report on gender pay differences, although the Government has committed not to use this power before 2013 and only then if insufficient progress on voluntary reporting has been made. If the Conservatives win the next election they have indicated that they would not exercise this power (criticising it as a “bureaucratic nightmare”) but instead would impose a mandatory equal pay audit on employers of any size who have lost an equal pay claim.
The Bill requires public bodies of 150 employees or more to report on gender pay on an annual basis from 2011, in addition to reporting the rate of employment for ethnic minorities and those with disabilities.
In August 2009 the Equality and Human Rights Commission published a consultation on gender pay reporting in the private sector, with the aim of encouraging employers to report voluntarily. A separate consultation has been carried out by the Government Equalities Office on the public sector equality duties.
The Equality Bill will also prevent employers from enforcing “secrecy clauses” in employment contracts (intended to prevent employees from comparing pay), provided employees are involved in a “relevant pay discussion”. It appears that such a discussion would have to relate to the issue of whether the individual’s pay is discriminatory. The Bill as currently drafted does not ban such clauses completely.
The Bill is due to have its first reading in the House of Lords before the end of the year, and is likely to be given Royal Assent in spring 2010.
Future strategy
In a further development, a new cross-Government strategy was announced on 29 October 2009 with the intention of improving gender equality in the workplace. Working Towards Equality looks at what has already been done and what more can be done to promote equality in the workplace, including improving access to quality part-time work, increasing flexible working and reducing the gender pay gap. This will form the basis of a new strategy to be published early next year. The extent to which this strategy forms the basis for any new legislation will presumably depend on who succeeds in the forthcoming General Election.