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The 1970 Act only dealt with equal pay for the same work but in 1975 the EU directive on Equal Pay was passed based on article 119. In 1978, despite the passage of legislation to promote equal pay, women’s position in the UK was still worse than in Italy, France, Germany, or the Benelux countries in 1972. However, The Act has now been mostly superseded by Part 5, chapter 3, of the Equality Act 2010. The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society. The act has made it against the law to discriminate against anyone because of age, being or becoming a transsexual person, being married or in a civil partnership, being pregnant or having a child, disability, race including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion, belief or lack of religion/belief, sex or sexual orientation. The Sex Discrimination Act was introduced in 1975 established the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) whose main duties were to work towards the elimination of discrimination, to promote equality of opportunity between sexes and to keep under review the workings of the Sex Discrimination Act and the Equal Pay Act 1970. It was introduced in order to stop discrimination due to a person’s gender and to allow for equality between men and women when it comes to equal pay for the same job. It also means that situations where ‘men only’ advertising appeared, such as job adverts, could count as sex discrimination. Despite these laws in place, organisations across the UK often breach these laws and do not offer full gender equality in their workplace, especially with their wages with the UK having the sixth largest gender pay gap in the European Union. The gender pay gap (the difference between men’s and women’s earnings as a percentage) for full-time employees increased to 10.0% from 9.5% based on median gross hourly earnings. As of 2013, women’s full-time median gross hourly earnings increased from £12.01 in 2012 to £12.24. However, men were still earning more on a whole with an increase from £13.27 to £13.60 from 2012 to 2013 proving the fact that men were still being paid more on a whole. Although these statistics are based on men and women in different job sectors, there is also proof that men and women are not being paid equally for the same role. Research conducted by The Law Society of Scotland found a large pay gap between men and women solicitors. The study showed that male solicitors are being paid up to 42% more than their female counterparts at some stages of their careers. It also found that there was little difference between male and female earnings when they started out but from the age of 36 onwards, women appeared to be paid lower salaries of men of the same age. The study also showed that women tended to remain associates or assistants rather than be promoted to partner level, which also could explain the gender pay gap. From my research I also found that
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Maternity leave is also a contributing factor as to why there is still a gender pay gap as many salaries are performance related and so are not earning as much as males who are still working after child birth. Data analysed by the House of Commons library found that 14% of the 340,000 women who take maternity leave each year find their jobs under threat when they try to return, with some told that they cannot continue in their role part-time. Some women are forced into positions with less responsibility and find it harder to get a promotion, while others are effectively constructively dismissed. Georgina Joseph, UK, told The Telegraph that she regretfully arranged with her boss to come back to work part-time informally but the offer was later withdrawn and was told that she could return on the exact terms of her previous employment (five days a week) or nothing at all. She worked out that if she had gone back full-time, she would have seen her baby, awake, for less than 23 hours a week. She also had the problem of not being able to find childcare to meet up with her working hours and rejected going back full-time. New government rules mean that mothers seeking to challenge
Maternity leave is also a contributing factor as to why there is still a gender pay gap as many salaries are performance related and so are not earning as much as males who are still working after child birth. Data analysed by the House of Commons library found that 14% of the 340,000 women who take maternity leave each year find their jobs under threat when they try to return, with some told that they cannot continue in their role part-time. Some women are forced into positions with less responsibility and find it harder to get a promotion, while others are effectively constructively dismissed. Georgina Joseph, UK, told The Telegraph that she regretfully arranged with her boss to come back to work part-time informally but the offer was later withdrawn and was told that she could return on the exact terms of her previous employment (five days a week) or nothing at all. She worked out that if she had gone back full-time, she would have seen her baby, awake, for less than 23 hours a week. She also had the problem of not being able to find childcare to meet up with her working hours and rejected going back full-time. New government rules mean that mothers seeking to challenge