Monday, May 18th, 2009
The Government has published its new Equality Bill which contains a range of measures affecting employers.
One of the key aims of the Bill is to narrow the pay gap between men and women.
Secrecy clauses in employment contracts will be banned so that employees can compare wages if they wish, enabling women to take action if they find they are being paid less than men for doing the same work.
Large firms with 250 or more employees will be required to report on the gender pay gap within their organisations.
Firms may also need to consider equality issues when tendering for contracts with public bodies. Organisations such as local authorities will be encouraged to use procurement as a way of promoting equality within private sector firms.
A Government statement gives this example of how it might work: “A council commissioning a construction project for a social regeneration scheme could require the contractor to run a positive action programme to train women in under-represented areas such as plumbing or carpentry, or pre-qualification criteria could be stated.”
Employment tribunals will be given greater powers. At the moment they can make recommendations to companies about how to improve work practices - but only in relation to the individual employee who brought the case. The Bill will allow tribunals to make recommendations which would benefit everyone in the workforce and help prevent similar forms of discrimination happening again.
The Bill will also enable employers to take positive action to rectify a situation where certain groups are under-represented within the workforce. They can balance things out if they wish by appointing someone from an under-represented group, provided the candidate is equally suitable. Such action will be optional. Positive discrimination which involves employing someone based on a particular characteristic regardless of merit will still be illegal.
There will also be more protection for carers against discrimination. It is currently illegal to discriminate against someone because of their association with a person of another race, religion or sexual orientation. The Equality Bill will extend this protection so it relates to age, disability and sex or gender reassignment. It means, for example, that an employer could not refuse to promote someone just because they were the carer of an elderly relative.
The Bill contains several other measures including some relating to promoting equality in society generally. For example, age discrimination will be illegal when selling goods or providing services such as in shops and hospitals or in relation to financial products and insurance.
However, it is in the workplace that the Bill will probably have the most impact. The Government says it is determined to eradicate inequality, particularly in relation to pay.
Vera Baird, Solicitor General and Minister who is taking the Equality Bill through the House, said: “Employers will no longer be able to rely on keeping their pay structure secret. We will ban secrecy clauses in employment contracts, so that women can challenge unfair pay. And we will encourage businesses to report on gender pay, but let us make no mistake: if voluntary measures do not work, we will take stronger measures to ensure equal pay for women.”
The Bill will replace nine other pieces of legislation and approximately 100 measures introduced over the last 40 years. Most of the measures are expected to come into force by the end of next year.
Firms may wish to re-assess their equality policies in light of the new measures in the Bill. Please contact Kevin Smyth if you would like more information.
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